Common Reed Phragmites australis (Cavanilles) Trinius subsp. australisNon-native  -  Invasive    Synonyms: Phragmites communis, Phragmites phragmites.
Kingdom Plantae   >   Division Tracheophyta   >   Class Magnoliopsida   >   Order Poales   >   Family Poaceae   >   Genus Phragmites   

Status:

This invasive species is common in many wet areas, forming tall dense stands that smother native vegetation. It is native to Europe.

This species' invasion has been "of great concern to both private and public land owners and managers since invasive P. australis typically will rapidly exclude other vegetation and form a monoculture" (Meadows & Saltonstall, 2007).

Description:

"Characters used to distinguish the two population types included degree of senescence (introduced plants remained green well into November while native plants had already senesced), culm color (maroon or bright yellow color indicated native), degree to which leaf sheaths were attached to the culms (introduced plants retain their leaf sheaths on the culm while natives tend to drop their leaves and leaf sheaths after senescing), and presence/absence of culm spots (native plants may have black spots near the nodes; Blossey 2002, Saltonstall et al. 2004)" (Meadows & Saltonstall, 2007).

Relationships:

The larva of the moth Sclerocona acutella use Common Reed as a host plant. Broad-winged Skipper also uses Common Reed as a host plant.

There are 524 records in the project database.

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Common Reed, a very aggressive invasive species often simply referred to as Phragmites, in Baltimore Co., Maryland (4/19/2009). Photo by Kerry Wixted. (MBP list)

Common Reed in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (8/24/2013). Photo by Jim Stasz. (MBP list)

Common Reed growing in Queen Anne's Co., Maryland (5/7/2016). Photo by Dan Small. (MBP list)

Common Reed in Queen Anne's Co., Maryland (8/9/2016). Photo by Wayne Longbottom. (MBP list)

Common Reed in Worcester Co., Maryland (10/22/2016). Photo by Ashley Bradford. (MBP list)

Common Reed in St. Mary's Co., Maryland (10/9/2016). Photo by John Hall. (MBP list)

Common Reed in Montgomery Co., Maryland (3/25/2016). Photo by Max Wilson. (MBP list)

Common Reed at Isle of Wight, Worcester Co., Maryland (2/20/2016). Photo by Bill Hubick. (MBP list)

Common Reed growing in Kent Co., Maryland (4/1/2016). Photo by Nancy Martin. (MBP list)

Common Reed growing in St. Mary's Co., Maryland (10/29/2016). Photo by Jim Stasz. (MBP list)

Common Reed in Howard Co., Maryland (3/7/2016). Photo by Nancy Magnusson. (MBP list)

Common Reed in Caroline Co., Maryland (8/30/2007). Photo by Wayne Longbottom. (MBP list)

Common Reed (new spring growth) in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (4/21/2019). Photo by Bill Hubick. (MBP list)

Common Reed in Calvert Co., Maryland (3/5/2016). Photo by Bill Hubick. (MBP list)

Common Reed in Caroline Co., Maryland (1/9/2020). (c) Wayne Longbottom, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Wayne Longbottom. (MBP list)

A winter Common Reed wasteland in Harford Co., Maryland (12/6/2015). Photo by Bill Hubick. (MBP list)

Common Reed in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (2/23/2017). Photo by Tyler Bell. (MBP list)

Common Reed in Dorchester Co., Maryland (7/16/2017). Photo by Jim Brighton. (MBP list)


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MBP marks as "Invasive" any taxon listed in the Maryland Invasive Species Council (MISC) list of Invasive Species of Concern in Maryland. You can read their criteria and review the lists here: https://mdinvasives.org/species-of-concern/.