Arundo donax

Arundo donax generally grows to 6 metres (20 ft) in height, or in ideal conditions can exceed 10 metres (33 ft). The hollow stems are 2 to 3 centimetres (0.79 to 1.18 in) in diameter. The grey-green swordlike leaves are alternate, 30 to 60 centimetres (12 to 24 in) long and 2 to 6 centimetres (0.79 to 2.36 in) wide with a tapered tip, and have a hairy tuft at the base. Overall, the plant resembles an outsize common reed (Phragmites australis) or a bamboo (subfamily Bambusoideae).
Arundo donax flowers in late summer, bearing upright, feathery plumes 40 to 60 centimetres (16 to 24 in) long, that are usually seedless or with seeds that are rarely fertile. Instead, it mostly reproduces vegetatively by tough, fibrous underground rhizomes that form knotty, spreading mats which penetrate deep into the soil, up to 1 metre (3.3 ft) deep (Alden et al., 1998; Mackenzie, 2004). Stem and rhizome pieces less than 5 centimetres (2.0 in) long and containing a single node could sprout readily under a variety of conditions (Boose and Holt, 1999). This vegetative propagation appears well adapted to floods, which may break up individual A. donax clumps, spreading the pieces, which may sprout and colonise downstream (Mackenzie 2004).

  Phyllostachys aurea (golden bamboo) and Arundo donax
  Arundo donax
  Arundo donax
  Arundo donax

3-6 hours of sun per day, with protection from intense mid-day sun

Arundo Donax

Arundo donax

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