Arundo donax
(giant reed)

Poaceae

 

Description:
Plants 1-2 m tall. Leaf sheaths glabrous, blades 2-5 cm wide, glabrous, grayish green, margins entire. Inflorescence 3-5 dm long, white to purplish. Glumes 10-12 mm long; lemmas 8-12 mm long, villous, trichomes silky. Flowering time unknown.


Distribution:
Santa Cruz, San Miguel, Santa Rosa, and San Nicolas islands; Cedros Island; San Francisco Bay region to Baja California, east to Utah and New Mexico; native of Europe. During heavy storms, rootstocks are washed out to sea and float across the Santa Barbara Channel; they have been found on beaches throughout the Channel Islands and occasionally establish new colonies.

 

Santa Cruz Island

1995(1)
Rare; moist sandy flats, floodplains; riparian communities, southern beach and dune; 5-10 ft (1-3 m). Known only from mouth of Cañada Christy, where it was first collected in October 1992.

2006(2)
Occasionally found at the mouth of Pozo and Johnson Canyons

 

 

Photos
Click on a picture for a larger image

A small stand of Arundo donax pictured on the mainland.  This is the typical size of plants found on Santa Cruz Island

 

Full-sized Arundo donax plants on the mainland.

 

(1) Provided by "A Flora of Santa Cruz Island" Steve Junak et al. Copyright Santa Barbara Botanic Garden & California Native Plant Society 1995.
(2) Provided by Channel Islands Restoration

 

Plant descriptions from "A Flora of Santa Cruz Island" Steve Junak et al. Copyright Santa Barbara Botanic Garden & California Native Plant Society 1995.  Used with permission.  Do not use or reproduce without permission.

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Last modified: 12/20/2007