Participant Info

Species

Phragmites australis [Phragmites communis]

Family

Poaceae

CommonName

common ewws

Presence

yes

Status

native

EarliestDate

1993

LatestDate

2024

Ecosystem

aquatic, basin

Geobotanical

LBasin

Counties

Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla

Passes

WildlifePreserves

Alamosa

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

Comments

NEED IN SITU PHOTOS. Despite its vernacular name, common reed is a grass that grows in and by water, along ponds, ditches, and back waters. In the Watershed, Phragmites australis has one voucher, a stand found by Hobie Dixon in 1993 in the Alamosa Wildlife Preserve. Ackerfield (2022) does not accept this record, nor apparently others from Shaw (2008), who cites Alamosa, Costilla, and Conejos counties. BONAP, does accept Shaw. For the latest observation (2024), see iNaturalist observation #205597457, photographing a strand on the Bluff Nature trail just east of the Rio Grande in Alamosa Co. The USA distribution spreads across nearly every state. The species follows the Rio Grande drainage solidly through New Mexico on down to the Gulf of Mexico. Note that although the Watershed basin lies at the upper elevation limit of P. australis, the plant tolerates alkaline habitats, common in the Valley. This aquatic grass spreads by runners. Allred et al. (2020) list many uses of this plant, from arrow shafts to ink quills.

Annotation