Culms (2)3-10 m, in large tussocks or hedges. Leaves distichous;
ligules 0.4-1 mm; blades 30-100 cm long, 2-7(9) cm wide, with
a wedge-shaped, light to dark brown area at the base. Panicles 30-60
cm long, to 30 cm wide. Spikelets 10-15 mm, with 2-4 florets. Glumes
subequal, as long as the spikelets, thin, brownish or purplish, 3-veined, long-acuminate;
lemmas 8-12 mm, 3-5-veined, pilose, hairs 4-9 mm, apices bifid, midvein
ending into a delicate awn; paleas 3-5 mm, pilose at the base; anthers
2-3 mm. Caryopses 3-4 mm, oblong, light brown. 2n = 24, 100, 110.
Within the Flora region, Arundo donax grows in the southern half
of the contiguous United States, being found along ditches, culverts, and roadsides
where water accumulates. It has been used extensively as a windbreak, and planted
for erosion control on wet dunes. It is also grown for the ornamental value
of its tall, leafy culms and large panicles, but its tendency to spread is sometimes
a disadvantage. Cultivars with striped or unusually wide leaves, e.g., 'Variegata'
and 'Macrophylla', are of horticultural interest but do not merit taxonomic
recognition.
Arundo donax has been used for thousands of years in
making musical instruments, the stems being used for pipes and the tough inner
rind for reeds in a wide variety of woodwind instruments. It is one of the species
referred to as reed in the Bible. It is still used in many parts of the world
for house construction, lattice-work, mats, screens, stakes, walking sticks,
and fishing poles.
FNA 2007, Gould 1980
Common Name: giant reed Duration: Perennial Nativity: Non-Native Lifeform: Subshrub General: Tall and mostly rhizomatous perennials, thick and knotty rhizomes; stems hard and fibrous, almost woody, mostly 2-5 m tall and 15-40 mm in diameter. Vegetative: Blades numerous, elongate, flat, glabrous or scabrous, mostly 2-6 cm broad, evenly spaced along the stem, scabrous margin. Inflorescence: Dense panicle, erect, much-branched, mostly 30-60 cm long, spikelets 10-15 mm long, three-to-six flowered, disarticulating above the glumes and between florets; glumes lanceolate, thin, three-or-five nerved, about as long the spikelet; lemmas lanceolate, mostly five-nerved, the nerves often extended as short awns, internerves membranous, back long-pilose at least on lower half, hairs mostly 6-8 mm long. Ecology: Found as an ornamental, along irrigation ditches, and on stream banks and in disturbed habitats; flowers in late summer. Distribution: Introduced to most of the southern half of the US, from CA east to MD; south through the Greater Antilles, MEX, S. and C. America; also in Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia. Notes: One of the tallest, most robust grasses in the region, reminiscent of bamboo with thick stalks from hardy rhizomes with flag leaves at obtuse to 90 degree angles from the main stalk; similar in appearance to Phragmites but distinguished by having a glabrous rachilla and a thicker auricle, with a distinct brown band (see pic). Plant introduced, can grow in saline soil, and forms thick patches along waterways. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Arundo is the Latin name for a reed grass, while donax is a Greek name for a kind of weed. Synonyms: Arundo donax var. versicolor, A. versicolor Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015