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Western Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Giant Reed
Arundo donox L.

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Grass (Gramineae)
Flowering: August-October
Field Marks: This giant grass differs from the somewhat similar common reed (Phragmites australis) by being larger in all aspects and by having hairy lemmas in the spikelets.
Habitat: Moist, disturbed soil, often along roads and in irrigation ditches.
Habit: Giant clump-forming perennial with stout, knotty rhizomes.
Stems: Upright, very stout, hollow, up to 20 feet tall.
Leaves: Elongated, flat, up to 3 1/2 inches wide, heart-shaped and with tufts of hairs at the base.
Flowers: Borne in spikelets, the spikelets arranged in dense, plume-like spikes up to 2 feet long and up to 10 inches thick, each spikelet several-flowered, about 1/2 inch long; lemmas hairy, tipped with a short awn.
Sepals: 0.
Petals: 0.
Stamens: 3.
Pistils: Ovary superior.
Grains: Ovoid, smooth.
Notes: This giant grass is native to Europe and has been planted in the United States as an ornamental which occasionally escapes into generally moist habitats.

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URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/florawe/species/2/arundona.htm
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Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 06:23:45 EST
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