Common names: Common Reed, Giant Reed, Cane Grass. This plant is found throughout the great plains in wet and moderately fertile soils along banks of water. In early America, pieces of stem were used to make pen points; the plant has been used for thatching, making mats, and arrow shafts. The rhizomes can be used as emergency food. Cattle and horses eat the immature plant; seeds are eaten by birds, and the red-wing blackbird nests in dense patches of the common reed. (Weeds of the Great Plains. Department of Nebraska, 2003.)
