Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud.

vernacular common reed — species · Poaceae

USDA: PHAU7
GBIF: 5290149
Rank: species

common reed (Phragmites australis) — Platephotograph · Larry Halverson source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Graminoid, Shrub, Subshrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Monocot
Family: Poaceae Barnhart
Genus: Phragmites

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Introduced
HI Hawaii Introduced
L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
PR Puerto Rico Native

§2b

County-level range

· 10 counties across 2 states/territories

Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 0 Both · 10 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: High
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: High
Salinity: High
Anaerobic: High
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -38 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 110 min.
Precipitation: 12–60 in/yr
pH range: 4.5–8.7
Root depth: 20 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Rhizomatous
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Long
Mature height: 13 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Moderate
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: White
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: Low
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Summer
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Propagation: sprigs

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 10 counties across 2 states/territories.

Montana view state ↗ 5 B ▾

Rhode Island view state ↗ 5 B ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/PHAU7 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5290149 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z