spaansriet, noun

Forms:
spaansche riet, spaanse rietShow more Also spaansche riet, spaanse riet, spansriet, and with initial capital(s).
Origin:
Afrikaans, South African DutchShow more Afrikaans (earlier South African Dutch Spaansche riet), Spaans Spanish + riet reed.
The Spanish reed, Arundo donax.
1824 W.J. Burchell Trav. (1953) II. 77The ceilings of the rooms were formed of a reed, called by the colonists Spaansche riet (Spanish reed).
1919 M.M. Steyn Diary 23For rods, we used the common ‘spansriet’ (common cane) which grew in many gardens, or the famous ‘Vanderlandsch bamboes’, but the former slender cane broke very easily.
[1971 Baraitser & Obholzer Cape Country Furn. 247In Europe four-poster beds gave warmth and privacy, but at the Cape there was an additional advantage in that the cloth canopy protected the sleeper from the grit that sifted down from the riet ceiling and clay brandsolder.]
1973 M.A. Cook Cape Kitchen 19Reed ceilings were mostly made of thick spaansriet.
The Spanish reed, Arundo donax.
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18241973