Phragmites
in botany, reed; a genus of grasses, tribe Arundineaæ.
Spikelets panicled, four or six flowered, those above perfect, the lower one with stamens only; all enveloped in silky hairs; palea short, two nerved. Known species five. The hard seeds of P. arundinacea and P. calamagrostis. In Cashmere the first species is given to cattle, and sandals are made from its stems.
In palæontology, a form of reed occurring in the Miocene.