Giant reed (Arundo donax)

Giant reed (Arundo donax) is a species of plant in the Poaceae, tall perennial reeds, long erect reeds, hard and woody, hollow, growing to form dense colonies in moist, riparian, freshwater and saltwater habitats.

A. donax grows to a height of 6-10 meters and a stem diameter of 2-3 cm. The leaves are elongated, gray or green or white, alternate, 30-60 cm long, 2-6 cm wide, pointed at the tip and have a tuft of hairs at the base.



Flowers have erect feathers, 40-60 cm long and have seeds or without seeds. Most reproduce vegetatively with hard and fibrous underground rhizomes, spreading and penetrating up to 1 meter into the soil.

Giant reed adapts to a variety of ecologies from heavy clay to loose sand and gravel soil, contaminated with arsenic, cadmium and lead. The species has two varieties, Arundo donax var. donax and Arundo donax var. versicolor.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Arundinoideae
Tribe: Arundineae
Genus: Arundo
Species: Arundo donax

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Arundo latifolia Salisb. in Prodr. Stirp. Chap. Allerton: 24 (1796)
Cynodon donax (L.) Raspail in Ann. Sci. Nat. (Paris) 5: 302 (1825)
Donax arundinaceus P.Beauv. in Ess. Agrostogr.: t. 16, f. 4 (1812)
Donax donax (L.) Asch. & Graebn. in Fl. Nordostdeut. Flachl.: 101 (1898)
Scolochloa arundinacea (P.Beauv.) Mert. & W.D.J.Koch in J.C.Röhling, Deutschl. Fl., ed. 3. 1: 539 (1823)
Scolochloa donax (L.) Gaudin in Fl. Helv. 1: 202 (1828)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Aira bengalensis (Retz.) J.F.Gmel. in Syst. Nat., ed. 13[bis].: 174 (1791)
Amphidonax bengalensis (Retz.) Steud. in Syn. Pl. Glumac. 1: 197 (1854)
Amphidonax bifaria Nees ex Steud. (1854)
Arundo aegyptia Delile in Descr. Egypte, Hist. Nat. 2(Mém.): 4 (1813)
Arundo aegyptiaca E.Vilm. in Fl. Pleine Terre, ed. 3: 984 (1870)
Arundo bambusifolia Hook.f. in Fl. Brit. India 7: 303 (1896)
Arundo bengalensis Retz. in Observ. Bot. 5: 20 (1789)
Arundo bifaria Retz. (1789)
Arundo coleotricha (Hack.) Honda in Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 41: 14 (1927)
Arundo coleotricha var. barbigera Honda (1927)
Arundo coleotricha var. versicolor (Mill.) Stokes in Bot. Mat. Med. 1: 100 (1812)
Arundo donax var. angustifolia Döll in C.F.P.von Martius & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Bras. 2(3): 48 (1878)
Arundo donax var. barbigera (Honda) Ohwi in Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 10: 265 (1941)
Arundo donax var. coleotricha Hack. in Bull. Herb. Boissier 7: 724 (1899)
Arundo donax var. lanceolata Döll (1878)
Arundo donax var. procerior Kunth in Révis. Gramin. 1: 75 (1829)
Arundo donax var. variegata Endl. in Cat. Horti Vindob.: 37 (1842)
Arundo donax var. variegata Poit. & A.Vilm. in Bon Jard. 1835: 485 (1835)
Arundo donax var. variegata E.Vilm. in Fl. Pleine Terre: 90 (1863)
Arundo donax f. versicolor (Mill.) Beetle in Phytologia 38: 174 (1978)
Arundo donax var. versicolor (Mill.) Aiton in Hortus Kew. 1: 115 (1789)
Arundo glauca Bubani in Fl. Pyren. 4: 303 (1901)
Arundo longifolia Salisb. ex Hook.f. (1896)
Arundo sativa Lam. in Fl. Franç. 3: 616 (1779)
Arundo scriptoria L. in Amoen. Acad. 4: 150 (1759)
Arundo triflora Roxb. in Icon. Pict. Pl. Rar.: 853
Arundo versicolor Mill. in Gard. Dict., ed. 8.: n.° 3 (1768)
Donax bengalensis (Retz.) P.Beauv. (1812)
Donax bifarius (Retz.) Trin. ex Spreng. in Neue Entdeck. Pflanzenk. 2: 73 (1821)
Donax sativus C.Presl in Gram. Sicul.: 16 (1818)
Donax versicolor (Mill.) P.Beauv. (1812)

PUBLICATIONS

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Ghazanfar, S.A. (1992). An Annotated Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Oman and their Vernacular names. Scripta Botanica Belgica 2: 1-153.

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VERNACULAR NAME

Afrikaans: Riet, Spaanse Riet, Spaanseriet, Spaansriet
Albanian:Kallami
Arabic: غاب عملاق - قصب عملاق
Assamese: Gabnol
Basque: Kainabera
Catalan: Canya
Chinese (simplified): 芦竹
Chinese (traditional): 蘆竹
Cora: Jara
Croatian: Trstika
Czech: Trsť rákosovitá
Danish: Pælerør, Pfahlrohr
Dutch: Spaanseriet, Pijlriet, Zaairiet
English: Giant reed, Bamboo reed, Elephant grass, Giant cane, Reed, Variegated giant reed
Finnish: Jättiruoko
French: Canne de Provence, Roseau à quenouilles, Canneville, Grand roseau, Quenouille, Roseau canne, Roseau de Fréjus, Roseau des jardins, Roseau donax
Galician: Cana
German: Pfahlrohr, Riesenschilf, Gewöhnliches Pfahlrohr, Pfeilrohr, Riesenpfahlrohr
Greek: Καλαμιά
Hebrew: עבקנה שכיח
Hindi: बरनाल - बारू - डोका - एनएएल - नलदुरा - ऊडप्पुल्लु Baranal, Baru, Doka, Nal, Naldura, Oodappullu
Hong Kong: 蘆竹
Hungarian: Óriás olasznád
Indonesia: Glagah putih
Italian: Canna comune, Canna, Canna domestica, Canna gargana, Canna gentile
Japanese: ダンチク
Java: Glagah putih
Kannada: Baalada kaddi, Bilee laalada kaddi, Hulagilu hullu
Korean: 물대
Lithuanian: Nendrinis arundas
Macao: 蘆竹
Malayalam: Oodappullu
Manipuri: Yengdou
Marathi: Nal
Mizo: Pum-phir
Nepali: ठूलो नरकट Thoolo Narkat
Otomí: Shití
Polish: Lasecznica trzcinowata
Portuguese: Cana, Taboca, Taquara-do-reino, Canas, Cana-comun, Cana-do-brejo, Cana de roca, Cana-do-reino, Cana-vieira, Cannodo-reino, Capim-plumoso, Canamilha, Caninha
Romaji: Dan-chiku
Rumanian: Trestie italiana
Russian: Арундо тростниковый
Sanskrit: Dhamana, Nala, Potagala
Slovak: Trsteník obyčajný, Trst obrovská
Slovenian: Navadna kanela
Spanish: Caña de Castilla, Canuto, Carrizo asiático gigante, Caña gigante, Caña de techar, Caña de la reina, Caña de castilla, Carrizo grande, Caña común, Caña india, Cañizo
Swedish: Italienskt rör
Taiwan: 蘆竹
Tamil: முடம் புல் - காரவனம் - கோரைக்குச்சு - கொருகாச்சி Mudam pul, Caravanam, Koraikkuccu, Korukachi
Telugu: Adavikikasa-gaddi, Adavikikkasagadi, Kaki veduru, Kakiveduru
Thai: อ้อ
Turkish: Kargı
Ukrainian: Арундо тростинний

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
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