Тростник обыкновенный: описание, применение и экологическая роль.

Genus of grasses commonly known as reeds
the common reed
Automatic taxobox
|image=Phragmites australis Schilfrohr. jpg
|image caption=Phragmites australis seed head in winter
|display parents=3
|taxon=Phragmites
|authority=Adans. |synonyms ref=
Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. – The cosmopolitan common reed
Phragmites japonicus Steud. – Japan, Korea, Ryukyu Islands, Russian Far East
Phragmites karka (Retz.) Trin. ex Steud. – tropical Africa, southern Asia, Australia, some Pacific Islands, invasive in New Zealand
Phragmites mauritianus Kunth – central + southern Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius

Phragmites stands can provide food and shelter resources for a number of birds, insects, and other animals. Habitat benefits are often optimal when stands are thinner, and management of stands may promote more suitable habitat benefits. Some evidence suggests that a short term management rotation of 1–2 years could maximize bird and invertebrate numbers.

P. australis provides ecosystem services such as nutrient sequestration, soil stabilization, and waste treatment. Others have argued that the ecosystem services lost as a result of invasion outweigh the benefits gained and managers need to be responsive to invasion control.

P. australis is cultivated as an ornamental plant in aquatic and marginal settings such as pond and lakesides. Its aggressive colonisation means it must be sited with care.

Phragmites australis is one of the main wetland plant species used for phytoremediation water treatment. Waste water from lavatories and greywater from kitchens is routed to an underground septic tank like compartment where the solid waste is allowed to settle out. The water then trickles through a constructed wetland or artificial reed bed, where bioremediation bacterial action on the surface of roots and leaf litter removes some of the nutrients in biotransformation. The water is then suitable for irrigation, groundwater recharge, or release to natural watercourses.

Reed is used in many areas for thatching roofs. In the British Isles, common reed used for this purpose is known as Norfolk reed or water reed. However, "wheat reed" and "Devon reed", also used for thatching, are not in fact reed, but long stemmed wheat straw.

In Middle East countries Phragmites is used to create a small instrument similar to the clarinet called a sipsi, with either a single, as in the picture, or double pipes as in bagpipes. The reed of the zurna is made from the common reed which is flattened after removing its brittle outer glaze and the loose inner membrane, and after softening it by wetting. The result is a double reed with an elliptical opening that vibrates by closing and opening at a high speed. This is not to be confused with other double reeds like that of the oboe which uses two reeds made from the giant reed leaning against each other.

The leaves, roots, seeds and stems of phragmites are edible. Young shoots can be cooked or eaten raw just like bamboo shoots. The young stems, "while still green and fleshy, can be dried and pounded into a fine powder, which when moistened is roasted like marshmallows." The seeds and rhizomes "can be ground into flour or made into gruel." In Japan, young leaves are dried, ground, and then mixed with cereal flour to make dumplings. Grazing on phragmites by large bodied domestic herbivores, such as cows, horses, sheep, and goats, can effectively control the plant and provide a reciprocal positive benefit for humans by generating meat, milk, leather, and wool etc.

Some other uses for Phragmites australis and other reeds in various cultures include baskets, mats, reed pen tips (qalam), and paper. Beekeepers can utilize the reeds to make nesting. In the Philippines, Phragmites is known by the local name tambo. Reed stands flower in December, and the blooms are harvested and bundled into whisk brooms called "walis". Hence the common name of household brooms is walis tambo. Reeds have been used to make arrows and weapons such as spears for hunting game.