Reed (plant)
Encyclopedia
Polyphyly
A polyphyletic group is one whose members' last common ancestor is not a member of the group.For example, the group consisting of warm-blooded animals is polyphyletic, because it contains both mammals and birds, but the most recent common ancestor of mammals and birds was cold-blooded...
botanical term used to describe numerous tall, grass-like plants of wet places, which are the namesake vegetation of reed bed
Reed bed
Reed beds are natural habitats found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions andestuaries. Reed beds are part of a succession from young reed colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground...
s. They are all members of the order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Poales
Poales
Poales is a large order of flowering plants in the monocotyledons, and includes families of plants such as the grasses, bromeliads, and sedges. Sixteen plant families are currently recognized by botanists to be part of Poales....
(in the modern, expanded cicrumscription), and include:
In the Poaceae
Poaceae
The Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...
(grass) family:
- Common reed (Phragmites australis Cav.), the original species named reed
- Giant reed (Arundo donaxArundo donaxArundo donax, Giant Cane, is a tall perennial cane growing in damp soils, either fresh or moderately saline. Other common names include Carrizo, Arundo, Spanish cane, Wild cane, and Giant reed....
L.), used for making reeds for musical instruments - Burma reed (Neyraudia reynaudianaNeyraudia reynaudianaNeyraudia reynaudiana, commonly known as Burma reed, silk reed, cane grass, or false reed, is a tall, perennial, large-plumed grass native to subtropical Asia, but invasive in southern Florida in the United States.-Description:...
) - Reed Canary-grass (Phalaris arundinacea)
- Reed sweet-grass (GlyceriaGlyceriaGlyceria is a genus of grasses known commonly as mannagrass or, as referred to in the UK, sweet-grass. These are perennial rhizomatous grasses found in wet areas in temperate regions worldwide. The base of the grass grows along the ground and may root at several places. Then it grows erect and...
maxima) - Small-reed (CalamagrostisCalamagrostisCalamagrostis, or Small-reed or Reedgrass, is a genus in the Grass family Poaceae with about 260 species that occur mainly in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere and the southern hemisphere. Towards equatorial latitudes, species of Calamagrostis generally occur at higher elevations in...
species)
In the Cyperaceae
Cyperaceae
Cyperaceae are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 5,500 species described in about 109 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group...
(sedge) family:
- Paper reed or papyrus (Cyperus papyrusCyperus papyrusCyperus papyrus is a monocot belonging to the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is a herbaceous perennial native to Africa, and forms tall stands of reed-like swamp vegetation in shallow water....
), the source of the Ancient Egyptian writing material, also used for making boats
In the Sparganiaceae
Sparganiaceae
Sparganiaceae is the botanical name for a family of flowering plants. Such a family was previously recognized by most taxonomists.The APG II system, of 2003 , also recognizes this family, and assigns it to the order Poales in the clade commelinids, in the monocots...
family:
- Bur-reed (SparganiumSparganiumSparganium is a genus of flowering plants, containing about 20 species in temperate regions of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. It was previously placed alone in the family Sparganiaceae...
species)
In the Typhaceae
Typhaceae
Typhaceae is the botanical name for a family of flowering plants. Such a family has been recognized by most taxonomists.The APG II system, of 2003 , also recognizes this family, and assigns it to the order Poales in the clade commelinids, in the monocots...
family:
- Reed-mace (TyphaTyphaTypha is a genus of about eleven species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. The genus has a largely Northern Hemisphere distribution, but is essentially cosmopolitan, being found in a variety of wetland habitats...
species), also called bulrush or cattail
In the Restionaceae
Restionaceae
Restionaceae, also called restiads, is the botanical name for a family of rush-like flowering plants native to the Southern Hemisphere.- Description :...
family:
- Cape Thatching Reed (Chrondopetalum tectorum), a restio originating from the South-western Cape, South Africa.
- Thatching Reed (Thamnochortus insignisThamnochortus insignisThamnochortus insignis is a species of grass-like restio of the family Restionaceae, in Africa.- Appearance :Plants are tall, grass- or reed-like tussocks with a diameter of 500 mm to 1 metre at the base and a spread of 3 metres or more at the top and up to 2,5 m tall...
), another restio species originating from the same geographic region.
Use in thatching
Phragmites australis, the common reed, is used in many areas for thatchingThatching
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge , rushes, or heather, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates...
roofs. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, common reed used for this purpose is known as "Norfolk reed" or "water reed". However, "wheat reed" and "Devon reed", also used for thatching, are not in fact reed, but long-stemmed wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
straw.
See also
- Constructed wetlandConstructed wetlandA constructed wetland or wetpark is an artificial wetland, marsh or swamp created as a new or restored habitat for native and migratory wildlife, for anthropogenic discharge such as wastewater, stormwater runoff, or sewage treatment, for land reclamation after mining, refineries, or other...
- Reed bedReed bedReed beds are natural habitats found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions andestuaries. Reed beds are part of a succession from young reed colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground...
- Reed boatReed boatReed boats and rafts, along with dugout canoes and other rafts, are among the oldest known types of boats. Often used as traditional fishing boats, they are still used in a few places around the world, though they have generally been replaced with planked boats. Reed boats can be distinguished from...
- Reed fields
- ThatchingThatchingThatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge , rushes, or heather, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates...
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