Identification and Control of Common Reed (Phragmites australis) in Virginia

Common reed is a tall perennial grass with creeping rhizomes that may make a dense vegetative mat. The leaves are rolled in the shoot, no auricles are present, and the ligule is a fringe of hairs. Leaf blades are 1 to 5 cm wide, 20 to 60 cm long, flat, and glaborous. The leaf margins are rough and the sheaths are overlapping.