FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Large reed with silky, dense inflorescence that tends to droop toward one side. Phragmites is from the Greek word, ‘phragma’ which refers to its fence-like growth. This noxious weed now dominates many coastal marshes along the Atlantic coast.
Synonym(s): Phragmites communis, Phragmites phragmites
Description: Tall, perennial grass with upright culms, 2 to 4 m tall, forming dense and exclusive stands from creeping rhizomes.
Leaves: Broad, flat, linear blades, 1 to 5 cm wide and 15 to 40 cm long. Leaves arranged in 2 planes on stems. Stems round, thick and hollow.
Flowers/Fruit: Terminal inflorescence a densely branched panicle, 15 to 45 cm long with tan to purplish (when young), long, silky hairs. Spikelets contain several flowers with long, silky hairs below each flower. Flowers and fruits August to October.
Habit and Range: Fresh, brackish, and salt marshes, banks of lakes and streams, ditches. Phragmites australis is found primarily in the Coastal Plain but is spreading inland. It tolerates varying salinities from freshwater to saltwater.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Phragmites australis (common reed) can be confused with Spartina cynosuroides (big cordgrass) since they both occur in much the same habitats, but the seedheads differ. Without inflorescences, P. australis could be confused with Arundinaria tecta (switch cane) or Arundinaria tecta (giant cane), which usually have branching stems, unlike P. australis. Also compare P. australis to the less common Zizania aquatica (annual wild-rice), which has a similar but more spreading seedhead. Immature inflorescences of P. australis are similar to Saccharum giganteum (sugarcane plumegrass), which has very fluffy mature plumes. P. australis inflorescences have long arching branches, not as compact as Saccharum giganteum.
Click here to view Spartina cynosuroides.
Click here to view Arundinaria tecta.
Click here to view Arundinaria gigantea.
Click here to view Saccharum giganteum.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
