North Carolina › Poaceae › Phragmites
Common Reed
Listed invasive in North Carolina (Rank 1, Severe Threat). This invasive score concerns the introduced lineage. Native subspecies americanus also occurs in North America; identify the lineage before applying this verdict.
Insect resources, birds and habitat
Bars show recorded counts on a linear scale. Each category runs from zero to its largest count in this NC plant catalog; the same scale applies across plant pages. Compare plants within a category, not bar lengths across categories. Zero records may mean missing research. Growth form is shown as text.
Fit for your county
Start with your county. Add conditions if you know them. No address needed; entries stay in this page and are not sent to Quercus.
Overwintering: no reviewed hardiness guidance loaded. Heat tolerance is not assessed.
| NC status (state rank) | SE |
| Grows in | usually wet ground (wetland occurrence proxy: FACW; not a measured watering requirement) |
| Soil pH range | 4.5–8.7 |
| Light | part sun to full sun (USDA PLANTS shade class 'High', read inverted (coarse)) |
| Recorded in NC | county records not available |
| Single-host caterpillars on genus | 0 |
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina, plant list export 2026-09-01 (LeGrand, Sorrie & Howard)
- NC Native Plant Society & NC Invasive Plant Council, NC Invasive Plants list, 2023-11-07
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Wetland Plant List 2022, Eastern Mountains & Piedmont
- USDA National Invasive Species Information Center: common reed lineage distinction
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database
Machine-readable: phragmites-australis.json. Cite as: Quercus Score v0.6.4, Phragmites australis, North Carolina, 2026-09-24.
Quercus Score v0.6.4 · built 2026-09-24 · North Carolina beta · sources and limitations on every page