Neyraudia reynaudiana - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Neyraudia reynaudiana, commonly known as Burma reed, silk reed, cane grass, or false reed, is a tall, perennial, large-plumed grass native to subtropical Asia, but invasive

Invasive species

"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....

in southern Florida in the United States.

Description

The stems of Burma reed, with flower stalks, are from 3 to 15 ft (0.9144 to 4.6 m) tall, depending on soil and moisture conditions. The leaves are 8 to 10 in (20.3 to 25.4 cm) long and hairless, except for a single line of horizontal hairs at the juncture of the upper and lower portions of the leaf. Stems are approximately 0.5 inches (1.3 cm) wide, round, solid, and have nodes (stem-leaf junctures) every 3 to 5 in (7.6 to 12.7 cm) along the stem. The flower plumes, which can be up to 3 foot (0.9144 m) long, are composed of many hundreds of tiny flowers and have a shimmery, silky appearance. Flowering occurs in April and October in south Florida, each clump producing an average of forty stalks and twelve to twenty flowering plumes. Burma reed resembles several other tall grasses, including common reed (Phragmites communis), giant reed (Arundo donax
Arundo donax
Arundo donax, Giant Cane, is a tall perennial cane growing in damp soils, either fresh or moderately saline. Other common names include Carrizo, Arundo, Spanish cane, Wild cane, and Giant reed....

), pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) and sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum).

Biology and spread

Burma reed reproduces by seed and through underground stems called rhizomes. Burma reed plants flower twice each year, producing hundreds of thousands of tiny seeds that are dispersed by the wind. New clumps of Burma reed emerge from rhizomes that may be embedded in sand, soil, or rubble.

Native range

Burma reed is widely distributed in warm, subtropical habitats in Southeast Asia and Indomalaya, including portions of Japan, southern China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaya, Myanmar (Burma), Bhutan, Nepal, and eastern India. It occurs in bogs, in open savannahs, on upland cliffs, and along forest and road edges, and from sea level to altitudes of 6500 feet (1,981.2 m).

Range in the United States

Burma reed was first introduced into the United States in 1916 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, possibly to investigate its potential as an ornamental plant. It was grown in a test garden in Coconut Grove, Florida, from which it escaped and spread. It is now found throughout southern Florida in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Lee, and Collier counties, and in the Florida Keys. It initially colonizes the margins of roadways, fields, and forests, from which it can spread to undisturbed areas. The ability of Burma reed to survive at high altitudes in its native range indicates a tolerance to cold and the potential for it to spread further north in the U.S. Seeds and rhizomes are also transported inadvertently in limestone rock from infested quarries that is carried by train from Miami-Dade County to concrete manufacturers throughout the southeastern United States. This unintentional movement of Burma reed material may allow it to invade new sites in Florida and adjacent states near limestone distribution centers.

Ecological threat

Burma reed damages native Florida ecosystems by crowding and shading out understory plant species and by creating conditions for extremely hot and destructive wildfire

Wildfire

A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...

s. In southern Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, in Miami-Dade County

Miami-Dade County, Florida

Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 2,496,435, making it the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States...

, including Everglades National Park

Everglades National Park

Everglades National Park is a national park in the U.S. state of Florida that protects the southern 25 percent of the original Everglades. It is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, and is visited on average by one million people each year. It is the third-largest...

, it is a serious threat to the globally imperiled pine rocklands community whose pine

Slash Pine

Pinus elliottii, commonly known as the Slash Pine, is a pine native to the southeastern United States, from southern South Carolina west to southeastern Louisiana, and south to the Florida Keys....

canopy was largely destroyed in 1992 by Hurricane Andrew

Hurricane Andrew

Hurricane Andrew was the third Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the United States, after the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and Hurricane Camille in 1969. Andrew was the first named storm and only major hurricane of the otherwise inactive 1992 Atlantic hurricane season...

. Burma reed is a highly combustible fuel source because of its high overall plant mass, its large feathery flower plumes, and its production of dense, hay-like leaf litter. This litter enhances fire movement along the ground, while the flower plumes carry the flames high into the air. With the aid of winds, these plumes often detach and fly through the air like torches, providing the potential for additional spread. Photographs of its ignition during a wildfire show flames leaping over 30 feet (9.1 m) high, threatening nearby tree canopies.

Management options

Restoration of sites infested with Burma reed requires a long term commitment to ensure effective control and to allow native vegetation to become established. Burma reed's deep roots make mechanical removal an extremely labor intensive and costly undertaking and causes extensive disturbance to the soil. A more effective management approach involves a combination of cutting or prescribed burning, followed by application of herbicides. After cutting, mowing or burning Burma reed plants down to the ground, a systemic herbicide like glyphosate, mixed with an acidic surfactant, can be applied to prevent new growth. Repeat treatment is likely to be necessary for a couple of years, until seed and rhizome stores are exhausted.

A successful burn of Burma reed reduces the plant's massive stalks to ash, eliminating the cost of vegetation removal. Conveniently, because Burma reed is the first plant to resprout following a fire, it can be sprayed freely with little concern about non-target kills. Burning by itself, whether through prescribed or natural wildfires, may enhance the growth and spread of Burma reed if not followed up with chemical or mechanical control.

In areas where Burma reed is dispersed among desirable native vegetation, individual plants can be cut at the base using a steel blade or string trimmer

String trimmer

A string trimmer, also known as a strimmer, line trimmer, weed whacker, weed whip, weed eater, weedy, or whipper snipper, is a powered handheld device that uses a flexible monofilament line instead of a blade for cutting grass and other plants near objects...