n.
In botany, any of several species of large aquatic grasses , especially the four species in the genus Phragmites (family Poaceae, or Gramineae).
The common, or water, reed ( P. australis ) occurs along the margins of lakes, fens, marshes, and streams from the Arctic to the tropics. It is a broad-leaved grass, about 515 ft (1.55 m) tall, with feathery flower clusters and stiff, smooth stems. Bur reed (genus Sparganium ) and reed mace (genus Typha ) are plants of other families. Dried reed stems have been used for millennia as thatching and construction material, in basketry, for arrows and pens, and in musical instruments (see reed instruments ).