Phragmites karka
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
common reed
Biostatus
Exotic
Conservation status
Not applicable
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Grasses
Simplified description
.Perennial rhizomatous grass, deciduous in winter
Similar taxa
Habitat
(In NZ), recorded from estuaries and wet grassland.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Synonyms
Many authors include P. karka in P. australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud., and the two reportedly hybridise where their natural ranges overlap, e.g. Pakistan.Arundo karka Retz.;
Arundo roxburghii Kunth;
Phragmites maxima (Forssk.) Blatter & McCann;
Phragmites nepalensis Nees ex Steud.;
Phragmites roxburghii (Kunth) Steud.
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Year naturalised
2006 (first confirmed record in NZ)
Origin
Africa, India, New Guinea and northern Australia (FAO website).
Reason for introduction
unknown
Other information
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
Referencing and citations
Attribution
Page created by C C Ogle March 2015