European common reed

LC - Least Concern

NNA - Not applicable

SNA - Not applicable

not listed

Prohibited Noxious Weed, Prohibited – Control

FACW - Facultative wetland

FACW - Facultative wetland

FACW - Facultative wetland

European common reed is a 4′ to 16′ tall, perennial, reed-like grass that rises on a single stem from an underground stem (rhizome) and fibrous roots. It quickly forms large dense colonies that crowd out all other species of plants. The rhizome is stout and oval in cross section. Most nodes of the rhizome are more than ⅝″ in diameter.

The stem (culm) is annual, stout, 3 ⁄16″ to ⅝″ in diameter, hollow between the nodes, unbranched, rigid, leafy, and hairless. It is dull, not shiny, and slightly ridged. It is usually all green with yellowish nodes. Sometimes the lower nodes are maroon. It is sometimes covered with a whitish, waxy film (glaucous). In the spring and summer the lower part of the culm, when the leaf is removed, is tan. In the winter it is tan, rarely brownish

The leaves are alternate, ascending to arching, and dark grayish-green or bluish-green. They persist on the culm in the winter. The blades are linear lance-shaped, flat, flexible, 6″ to 24″ long, and ¾″ to 1½″ wide. They taper to a slender, thread-like point at the tip. The upper and lower surfaces are hairless. The upper surface has numerous parallel veins. The midvein is noticeably thickened on the underside. The lower part of the leaf that surrounds the stem (sheath) is usually hairless, sometimes hairy along the margins. The margins of the sheath overlap. Where the leaf blade meets the sheath there is a thin, pliable appendage (ligule). The ligule is 0.4 to 0.9 mm long and has a fringe of white hairs. In the winter the sheaths do not pull away from the culm easily.

The inflorescence is a large, dense, plume-like cluster (panicle) of numerous ascending to drooping branches. The panicle is egg-shaped to lance-shaped in outline, 6″ to 14″ long, and 3″ to 8″ wide. It is silky and purplish or reddish when in bloom, light tan to dark brown when in fruit.

Each spikelet is egg-shaped to inversely triangular on outline, somewhat flattened, and ⅜″ to ⅝″ long. One spikelet consists of an upper and lower protective bract (glume) and 3 to 8 florets. The lower 1 or 2 florets are male (staminate), the upper 1 or 2 are reduced in size and nonfunctional (sterile), and the remaining ones contain both male and female parts (bisexual). The florets are closely spaced along a zigzagged central axis (rachilla). The rachilla is densely covered with silky, ¼″ to ⅜″ long hairs. The glumes have 1 to 3 veins, are hairless, and are shorter than the florets. The lower glume is 1 ⁄16″to 3 ⁄16″ long. The upper glume is much longer, ⅛″ to ¼″ long.

Each fertile floret consists of an outer protective bract (lemma), an inner protective bract (palea), and reproductive parts. The lemma is 5 ⁄16″ to ½″ (7.5 to 12 mm) long, is rounded on the back, and has 3 veins. The palea has 2 veins. Bisexual florets have 3 stamens with purplish anthers. Staminate florets may have fewer stamens.

Fruits are seldom produced and when they are they rarely mature. A mature fruit (caryopsis) is 1 ⁄16″ to ⅛″ long, oblong, and circular or slightly flattened in cross section, with a short beak at the tip.

4′ to 16′

Fairly dry to wet.

August to September

Sources

4, 7, 22, 28, 29, 30.

Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC): MNPhrag Phragmites Locations. Retrieved 3/19/2023.

EDDMapS shows this subspecies present in almost every county in Minnesota based on both observations and literature. The map at left includes EDDMapS observations but not literature data.

Native to Europe, Asia, and Africa. Introduced and widely naturalized in North America.

Common