NYBG EcoFlora December EcoQuest Challenge
FLAG PHRAG
Common Reed (Phragmites australis subsp. australis), also known simply as “Phrag” is very aggressive in disturbed sites and forms extensive monospecific stands (e.g. New Jersey Meadowlands). Estuaries and marshes are some of the most productive ecosystems on earth and their transformation to monocultural stands of one non-native species such as Phrag degrades their dynamic structure and diversity.
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A smart time to do this; when it's easy to see the smooth, bare, often red stems of p.a.a. ssp. americanus vs. the ridged, covered, tan stems of P.a. ssp. australis. Would be interested to see how much of the former you turn up.
@srall Thanks for that. Good point about the accessibility of the plants and exposure of the inner culms. Have you found any bona-fide Phragmites australis subsp. americanus in our area? I have not. I do not find any on iNat so far either. If anyone is going to find it, that person will be YOU or SANDY @sadawolk
Here is some more info folks may find helpful.
https://prairiebotanist.com/2016/01/30/winter-identification-of-native-and-exotic-phragmites-subspecies-in-se-wisconsin/
I had not until I got tagged in this one https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/65452246 though it's up in northern Mass. Up until then I'd been poo-pooing everyone who claimed they had "American" reed. After all, only Haines's Flora Novae Angliae (and GoBotany) and eFlora even list it, of all the floras I have access to. But now I'm wondering if it was around and I simply missed it.
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