European reed

The common (Phragmites australis), known as the common reed including the subspecies (Phragmites australis australis), the European reed, is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae. It is a wetland grass that can grow up to 6 metres (20 feet) tall and has a cosmopolitan distribution worldwide.

The expansion of Phragmites in North America is due to the more vigorous, but similar-looking European subsp. australis. Phragmites australis subsp. australis outcompetes native vegetation and lowers the local plant biodiversity. It forms dense thickets of vegetation that are unsuitable habitat for native fauna.

Main Photo Credit: "European reed (Phragmites australis ssp. australis), Ontario, Canada" by Chris Motherwell, 2021. CC BY-NC 2.0.

Description: Wikipedia