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Phragmites australis

Common reed (Phragmites australis) is a species of monocot in the family Poaceae (grass family).This species of grass is introduced to North America and extremely invasive, greatly expanding its range since the early 20th century. It is detrimental to native plants and wildlife, quite difficult to eradicate, and tends to emerge earlier and be less susceptible to insect herbivory than the native strains.Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. (Common Reed, Poaceae) is globally distributed and provides multiple ecosystem services in its native range. A native subspecies (P. australis ssp. americanus) has been present in North American wetlands for thousands of years. However, the non-native, invasive subspecies (P. australis ssp. australis) was introduced to North America from Europe prior to 1900 and has been aggressively disrupting and displacing native plant communities and altering wildlife habitat and ecosystem properties.