File:Очерет звичайний DSCF5778.jpg

Phragmites australis, also known as the common reed, is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae. It is a wetland grass that can grow up to 20 feet tall and has a cosmopolitan distribution worldwide. Phragmites australis commonly forms extensive stands (known as reed beds), which may be as much as 0.39 square miles or more in extent. Where conditions are suitable it can also spread at 16 feet or more per year by horizontal runners, which put down roots at regular intervals. It can grow in damp ground, in standing water up to 3 ft 3 in or so deep, or even as a floating mat. The erect stems grow to 61⁄2 –13 ft tall, with the tallest plants growing in areas with hot summers and fertile growing conditions. The leaves are 7– 231⁄2 in long and 1⁄2 – 21⁄4 in broad. The flowers are produced in late summer in a dense, dark purple panicle, about 6– 151⁄2 in long. Later the numerous long, narrow, sharp pointed spikelets appear greyer due to the growth of long, silky hairs. These eventually help disperse the minute seeds.