Overruns

Phragmites grows much taller, denser and with deeper roots than the native marsh grass it overruns.

Phragmites grows much taller, denser and with deeper roots than the native marsh grass it overruns. But those same traits that make it a powerful invader also mean it stores more carbon than native species.

It is generally seen flying in the daytime, when it delights to suck honey from the flowers of the Scotch thistle, a plant which much overruns the forest lands when first cleared.