POACEAE

Arundo donax

Common Name:  Giant Reed

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habit--Arundo donax is the largest grass in central Texas, growing up to 20 feet in height!  This species is not native to North America--it is actually native to the Mediterranean region. stem with inflorescence--this stem has bent sideways under its own weight
leaf closeup--what kind of venation is present here?  Is this a monocot or a dicot? stem showing nodes--what kind of leaf base is present here?
node closeup--do you see the line originating where the leaf bases meet, and that goes down the stem?  This line represents the division between the two sides of the sheathing leaf base.  Because these two sides are not fused, we call this an open sheath--this is a characteristic common to all grasses, and in the field can be used to tell grasses apart from sedges (sedges have a closed sheath, in which the two sides are fused around the stem). rhizome--Arundo has huge rhizomes!