Silkreed

Description

The stems of Burma reed, with flower stalks, are from 3 to 15 feet (0.91 to 4.57-m) tall, depending on soil and moisture conditions. The leaves are 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25-cm) long and hairless, except for a single line of horizontal hairs at the juncture of the upper and lower portions of the leaf. Stems are approximately 0.5 inches (1.3-cm) wide, round, solid, and have nodes (stem-leaf junctures) every 3 to 5 inches (7.6 to 12.7-cm) along the stem. The flower plumes, which can be up to 3 feet (0.91-m) long, are composed of many hundreds of tiny flowers and have a shimmery, silky appearance. Flowering occurs in April and October in south Florida, each clump producing an average of forty stalks and twelve to twenty flowering plumes. Burma reed resembles several other tall grasses, including common reed (Phragmites communis), giant reed (Arundo donax), pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) and sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum)