[NatureList] Phragmites news
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Frederick W. Schueler
Aug 13, 2026, 3:08:55 PMAug 13
to Eastern Ontario Natural History listserve, Michelle Cavanagh, meaghan....@rvca.ca, Matt Bolding, Elsie Lewison, Daniel Brunton
Everyone,
1) in the 416 median south of Kemptville (waypoint at 45.02496° N
75.62640° W), there are fairly long stretches where there is a dense
narrow band of Phragmites in a central ditch. These are more-or-less
regularly mowed down, and a few days ago the stand was only a metre
tall, but in prolific black-headed bloom. It would be interesting to get
the schedule of mowing of these median stands, to see if there's an
explanation of this blooming of such low plants.
2) In getting background for the Ontario Phragmites Action Programme -
https://ontariophragmitesaction.ca/ - I've been looking for an article,
I recalled from the 1940s by someone at Agriculture, about the status of
Phragmites in eastern Ontario, designating them as what we'd now call a
species-at-risk, because they weren't reproducing sexually.
Nobody had any clue about this until I asked Dan Brunton, who said the
author must be William Dore, which led me to these paragraphs about the
status of Phragmites in eastern Ontario before the invaders arrived. The
list of sites where the natives were known should be checked to see if
they persist or if the sites have been taken over by invaders:
https://dn790002.ca.archive.org/0/items/grassesofontario00dore/grassesofontario00dore.pdf
Even when full panicles and perfect flowers are produced, no sound
grains are known to be formed by Ontario plants. Whether this is because
the season is too short for their maturation or because of
self-incompatibility coupled with clonal spread is not known. The
condensed nature of the clones and their confinement to small locations
in areas with other apparently suitable marshland habitats further
testifies to the present-day ineffectiveness of seed propagation.
https://dn790003.ca.archive.org/0/items/grassesofottawad00dore/grassesofottawad00dore.pdf
Phragmites Trin.
Tall perennial with broad leaves and cane-like culms, growing from heavy
rhizomes. Panicle large and plume-like, becoming silky after flowering
late in summer. Spikelets several-floreted with long hairs from a
rachilla which remains attached to the floret above it. Culms hard,
hollow, generally purplish; blades broad, firm, hairless, often glaucous
and generally fraying at the tip with age; ligule a row of short matted
hairs.
The probable site of the first collected stand, stated as "Mississippi
River, Carleton Place"" {McMorine in 1860) was located in 1953, less
than a mile above the town. A second large stand occurs along the River
about 15 miles below Carleton Place, opposite Antrim. The exact location
of another old collection, "Ottawa, wet bogs" {Scott in 1891) is not
known, and Macoun's stand, "Rideau River, above Minto Bridge" (1911) no
longer exists. After a lapse of many years, several well-established
stands have been discovered at other localities: Bowesville (Dore in
1940 and 1944), the stand now destroyed; Prospect {Dore & Gillett in
1947); Mud Pond (Dore & Calder in 1947, Breitung in 1948, Dore in 1949);
Shirley Bay (Dore & Breitung in 1948); Winchester (Frankton in 1949);
Bear Brook, Carlsbad Springs (Dore & Moore in 1949); Blackburn (Dore &
Hall in 1952); Cobb Lake, Bourget (Dore & Cody in 1952); Luskville (Groh
& Dore in 1953). All stands are only a few square yards in size, except
the one in Shirley Bay which covers a few acres; that in wet rangeland
near Winchester is said to be scattered over some 10 acres. It is
thought that the species spread across the country soon after the
retreat of the Champlain Sea, when the climate was warmer and the
seasons longer; perhaps clumps of rhizomes were variously rafted along
its receding shores. At any rate, the stands are now localized and
maintain themselves vegetatively. There is no evidence of dispersal by
seed although the seeds with their silky hairs, should well equip the
plant for widespread wind dispersal. It is likely that the late-blooming
panicles are killed by frost before the grains can mature. The name
'Common Reed-grass' is more appropriate in more temporate parts of the
world where the plant is abundant wherever there is wet land.
--
------------------------------------------------------------
---------Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad ------------
Fragile Inheritance Natural History - https://fragileinheritance.ca/
6 St-Lawrence Street Bishops Mills, RR#2 Oxford Station, Ontario K0G 1T0
on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44.87156° N 75.70095° W
------------------------------------------------------------
1) in the 416 median south of Kemptville (waypoint at 45.02496° N
75.62640° W), there are fairly long stretches where there is a dense
narrow band of Phragmites in a central ditch. These are more-or-less
regularly mowed down, and a few days ago the stand was only a metre
tall, but in prolific black-headed bloom. It would be interesting to get
the schedule of mowing of these median stands, to see if there's an
explanation of this blooming of such low plants.
2) In getting background for the Ontario Phragmites Action Programme -
https://ontariophragmitesaction.ca/ - I've been looking for an article,
I recalled from the 1940s by someone at Agriculture, about the status of
Phragmites in eastern Ontario, designating them as what we'd now call a
species-at-risk, because they weren't reproducing sexually.
Nobody had any clue about this until I asked Dan Brunton, who said the
author must be William Dore, which led me to these paragraphs about the
status of Phragmites in eastern Ontario before the invaders arrived. The
list of sites where the natives were known should be checked to see if
they persist or if the sites have been taken over by invaders:
https://dn790002.ca.archive.org/0/items/grassesofontario00dore/grassesofontario00dore.pdf
Even when full panicles and perfect flowers are produced, no sound
grains are known to be formed by Ontario plants. Whether this is because
the season is too short for their maturation or because of
self-incompatibility coupled with clonal spread is not known. The
condensed nature of the clones and their confinement to small locations
in areas with other apparently suitable marshland habitats further
testifies to the present-day ineffectiveness of seed propagation.
https://dn790003.ca.archive.org/0/items/grassesofottawad00dore/grassesofottawad00dore.pdf
Phragmites Trin.
Tall perennial with broad leaves and cane-like culms, growing from heavy
rhizomes. Panicle large and plume-like, becoming silky after flowering
late in summer. Spikelets several-floreted with long hairs from a
rachilla which remains attached to the floret above it. Culms hard,
hollow, generally purplish; blades broad, firm, hairless, often glaucous
and generally fraying at the tip with age; ligule a row of short matted
hairs.
The probable site of the first collected stand, stated as "Mississippi
River, Carleton Place"" {McMorine in 1860) was located in 1953, less
than a mile above the town. A second large stand occurs along the River
about 15 miles below Carleton Place, opposite Antrim. The exact location
of another old collection, "Ottawa, wet bogs" {Scott in 1891) is not
known, and Macoun's stand, "Rideau River, above Minto Bridge" (1911) no
longer exists. After a lapse of many years, several well-established
stands have been discovered at other localities: Bowesville (Dore in
1940 and 1944), the stand now destroyed; Prospect {Dore & Gillett in
1947); Mud Pond (Dore & Calder in 1947, Breitung in 1948, Dore in 1949);
Shirley Bay (Dore & Breitung in 1948); Winchester (Frankton in 1949);
Bear Brook, Carlsbad Springs (Dore & Moore in 1949); Blackburn (Dore &
Hall in 1952); Cobb Lake, Bourget (Dore & Cody in 1952); Luskville (Groh
& Dore in 1953). All stands are only a few square yards in size, except
the one in Shirley Bay which covers a few acres; that in wet rangeland
near Winchester is said to be scattered over some 10 acres. It is
thought that the species spread across the country soon after the
retreat of the Champlain Sea, when the climate was warmer and the
seasons longer; perhaps clumps of rhizomes were variously rafted along
its receding shores. At any rate, the stands are now localized and
maintain themselves vegetatively. There is no evidence of dispersal by
seed although the seeds with their silky hairs, should well equip the
plant for widespread wind dispersal. It is likely that the late-blooming
panicles are killed by frost before the grains can mature. The name
'Common Reed-grass' is more appropriate in more temporate parts of the
world where the plant is abundant wherever there is wet land.
--
------------------------------------------------------------
---------Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad ------------
Fragile Inheritance Natural History - https://fragileinheritance.ca/
6 St-Lawrence Street Bishops Mills, RR#2 Oxford Station, Ontario K0G 1T0
on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44.87156° N 75.70095° W
------------------------------------------------------------
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