Shrub · Poaceae
Common reed
Phragmites australis · includes its varieties and subspecies
Common reed is recorded as native to 33 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 141 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Common reed at a glance
- Native in
- 141 counties, across 33 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 13 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Common reed is recorded as native to 33 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 141 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS. In 812 more counties PLANTS labels it both native and introduced (statewide in Alabama, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia and Kentucky and 8 other states), so there it appears only in the separate “native and introduced” section.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 141 where it is listed.
- Maricopa County, AZ
- San Diego County, CA
- Suffolk County, NY
- San Bernardino County, CA
- Middlesex County, MA
- Clark County, NV
- Riverside County, CA
- Barnstable County, MA
- St. Lawrence County, NY
- Essex County, MA
- Contra Costa County, CA
- Salt Lake County, UT
- Aroostook County, ME
- Cumberland County, ME
- Rockingham County, NH
Native counties by state
- Arizona 4 counties
- California 10 counties
- Colorado 4 counties
- Delaware 3 counties
- Idaho 6 counties
- Illinois 1 county
- Indiana 4 counties
- Iowa 1 county
- Kansas 3 counties
- Maine 5 counties
- Maryland 7 counties
- Massachusetts 6 counties
- Michigan 2 counties
- Minnesota 4 counties
- Montana 1 county
- Nebraska 5 counties
- Nevada 3 counties
- New Hampshire 1 county
- New Jersey 3 counties
- New Mexico 3 counties
- New York 5 counties
- North Carolina 2 counties
- North Dakota 3 counties
- Oklahoma 1 county
- Oregon 7 counties
- Rhode Island 2 counties
- South Dakota 3 counties
- Utah 22 counties
- Vermont 1 county
- Virginia 5 counties
- Washington 3 counties
- Wisconsin 9 counties
- Wyoming 2 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Graminoid, Shrub, Subshrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 13 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 12 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.5 to 8.7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- High
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 20 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 110
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- White
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- Low
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Poaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- PHAU7
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Phragmites australis (PLANTS symbol PHAU7), including 1 variety or subspecies folded into the species.
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources