פירוש על ראש השנה 2:3

כלונסאות – long and tall trees/wood; the Aramaic translation is flag of a beam/pole (See Talmud Rosh Hashanah 22b), in order that it could be seen from afar.

How did they light the torches? They used to bring long poles of cedar and reeds and olive wood and flax fluff and they tied them all together with a string. And someone used to go up to the top of a mountain and light them with fire and wave them back and forth and up and down until he saw the next one doing the same thing on the top of the second mountain; and so on the top of the third mountain.
This mishnah teaches how the torches were made and how the signals were passed from the top of one mountain to another. The mishnah is simple to understand and so no commentary appears below.

‘וקנים ועצי שמן ונעורת של פשתן – all of these increase the flame.