Phragmites

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  P. australis

  1a. Ligules 0.4–0.9 (–1.1) mm long; lower glumes 2.5–5 mm long; upper glumes 4.5–7.5 mm long; lemmas 7.5–12 mm long; middle and upper internodes of stem dull, ridged, tan during the growing season [Fig. 253]; leaf sheaths of middle and upper stem persistent on plant, removed with difficulty in the fall; rhizomes usually thicker than 15 mm, often compressed; leaf blades dark green or dark gray-green (yellow-green in some coastal populations); clones with densely set stems
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  P. americanus

  1b. Ligules 1–1.7 mm long; lower glumes 3–6.5 mm long; upper glumes 5.5–11 mm long; lemmas 8–13.5 mm long; middle and upper internodes of stem smooth and highly lustrous, red-brown to dark red-brown during the growing season [Fig. 252]; leaf sheaths of middle and upper stem sometimes deciduous, easily removed in the fall; rhizomes usually thinner than 15 mm, terete; leaf blades yellow-green; clones with sparsely set stems

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