Phragmites Adans.

Czernya Presl, Miphragtes Nieuwland, Oxyanthe Steud., Trichoon Roth, Xenochloa Roem. & Schult.

Habit, vegetative morphology. Perennial. Culms 80-400(-1000) cm high; woody and persistent to herbaceous (often somewhat persistent); branching above (especially when main culm damaged), or unbranched above. Nodes glabrous. Leaf blades linear-lanceolate to lanceolate; broad. Adaxial ligule a fringe of hairs.

Reproductive organization, inflorescence. Plants bisexual, with bi\sexual spikelets. Inflorescence paniculate; open (20-60 cm long, plumose, the fertile lemmas surrounded by long white silky hairs); not comprising ‘partial inflorescences’ and foliar organs. Spikelet-bearing axes persistent. Spikelets not in distinct long-and-short combinations.

Female-fertile spikelets. Spikelets 9-16 mm long; compressed laterally; disarticulating above the glumes (at least above the L1); disarticulating between the florets; with the rachilla prolonged apically. Glumes two; very unequal; decidedly shorter than the adjacent lemmas; awnless; not carinate (rounded on the back). Spikelets with incomplete florets. The incomplete florets both distal and proximal to the female-fertile florets. Proximal incomplete florets 1; male; awnless. Female-fertile florets (2-)3-10. Lemmas entire; pointed (acute to acuminate or aristulate); awnless, or awned (narrow-attenuate, muticous to aristulate). Awns (if lemmas aristulate) 1; apical; non-geniculate; much shorter than the body of the lemma. Lemmas 1-3 nerved. Palea present; conspicuous but relatively short. Lodicules present; fleshy; ciliate, or glabrous. Stamens 3 (or two in the lower floret). Ovary glabrous. Stigmas 2; brown.

Fruit. Fruit small; smooth. Hilum short. Pericarp fused.

Photosynthetic pathway, leaf blade anatomy. C3. XyMS+. Mesophyll with arm cells; without fusoids. Midrib conspicuous; with a conventional arc of bundles; without colourless tissue adaxially. All the vascular bundles accompanied by sclerenchyma.

Taxonomy. Arundinoideae; Arundineae.

Distribution. 3 species. Holarctic Kingdom, Paleotropical Kingdom, Neotropical Kingdom, Australian Kingdom, and Antarctic Kingdom.

A computer-generated description, with diagnostic attributes italicized.