Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Large
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Freshwater wetland
Range: Worldwide
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Runners
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

The common reed is one of the most widely distributed vascular plants on Earth, colonising wetlands, riverbanks, and coastlines on every continent except Antarctica. Its hollow bamboo-like stems can reach over 4 metres tall and have been harvested for millennia to make thatch, arrows, and flutes.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Phragmites
Species: Phragmites australis