Is reed a deciduous plant or an evergreen plant?

Reed is a polymorphic species widely distributed around the world. It grows along rivers, lakes and marshes, on the banks of ponds and ditches, and in low-lying wet areas. Reed is mostly planted by the water and is especially beautiful during the flowering season, making it suitable for ornamental viewing. So is reed deciduous or evergreen?

1. Is reed deciduous or evergreen

Reed is an evergreen plant. Planting reed on a large scale can not only regulate the climate and conserve water sources, but also form a good wetland ecological environment, and it also provides birds with a home for perching, foraging and breeding.

2. The benefits and functions of reed

1. Ecology

Reed rhizomes spread in all directions and have the effect of stabilizing embankments; reed can absorb phosphorus in water and can inhibit the growth of blue-green algae. Large areas of reed can not only regulate the climate and conserve water sources, but the good wetland ecological environment they form also provides birds with a home for perching, foraging and breeding. The leaves, stems and rhizomes of reed all have aerenchyma, which gives them the function of purifying sewage.

2. Economy

Reed stems have a relatively high cellulose content and can be used to make paper and artificial fibers. In ancient times, reed was woven into “reed mats” used for covering kang beds and roofing houses. In addition, an ancient musical instrument called the reed flute was made from the hollow stems of reed. Reed ears can be made into brooms, and the catkins of reed flowers can be used to fill pillows; there are many kinds of uses.

3. Landscaping

Reed is mostly planted by the water and is especially beautiful during the flowering season. New reed varieties on the market now have the characteristics of tolerating deep water and cold, resisting drought, resisting high temperatures and resisting lodging, and have the advantages of taking shape in a short time and quickly creating a landscape.

4. Animal husbandry

Reed has a high biomass, and reed leaves, reed flowers, reed stems, reed roots and reed shoots can all be used in animal husbandry, with relatively high feed value. Livestock like to eat the tender stems and leaves of reed, and reed land can be used as mowing land or for both grazing and mowing, and is suitable for grazing horses and large cattle. Besides being used for grazing, it can also be sun-dried into hay and ensiled. After ensiling, the forage has a strong fragrance.

5. Medicinal use

Reed is sweet in taste, cold in nature and non-toxic. It has the effects of clearing heat, promoting body fluid production, relieving restlessness, stopping vomiting, neutralizing fish and crab toxins, and clearing heat and releasing the exterior. It mainly treats heat diseases with restlessness and thirst, stomach heat with vomiting, dysphagia, regurgitation, lung atrophy, lung abscess, exterior heat syndrome, and neutralizes pufferfish toxin.

Because the leaves, leaf sheaths, stems, rhizomes and adventitious roots of reed all have aerenchyma, it plays an important role in purifying sewage. Reed stems are tough and have a high fiber content, making them a rare raw material in the papermaking industry.