Phragmites australis Information about the common reed.
(A Flora of Kern County. Twisselmann 581.9794 T974)
Phragmites communis Trinus var Berlanderi (Fournier) Fernald.
Carizzo grass. Now known only from Mesquite Springs at the southeast base of the El Paso Mountains (T10,300), carizszo grass was once much more common in the county. Lt. R.S.Williamson (Report of Explorations in California for Rail Road Routes, IV:18) reported it was abundant in 1853 along Canbrake Creek (which was named for the grass) west of Walker Pass adn along Kelso Creek south of Weldon where Williamson observed Indians harvesting the grass for the sugar incrustations on the leaves. According to Donald J. Bedell (oral communication) cattle graze it avidly. Its extermination, however, is more likely to have been caused by horse pawing out its roots in times of scant forage.
Phragmites communis, Phragmites australis
See also:Phragmites, Plant Database, Phytochemistry, Ethnobotany,
Note: Most botanical texts consider P. australis and P. communis to be synonyms for the same plant. Many assert that there is only one species in the genus Phragmites.
Locally abundant in marshes, seeps, along rivers, at streamsides and canal banks, scattered throughout our region, fall; in most parts of the warmer parts of the world.EthnobotDB--worldwide plant uses is a searchable ethnobotany database
at the National Agricultural Library.The National Plants Database at the US Dept. of Agriculture includes information about wetlands, threatened/endangered and economically important plants.