Vigorous, perennial top grass with long, tough rhizomes which produce a strong root system. It reaches a height of 180 cm or more. The strong culms are stiffly upright. Flowers June to July. Reed canary grass commonly grows in ditches, along riverbanks and on damp to marshy meadows where there is a good supply of nutrient- and oxygen-rich water. Doesn’t fare well in standing water, but thrives on flood plains that are flooded in winter and where ground water levels are below 40 cm in summer, where it can be stand-forming. These sites can provide 2–3 cuts of highly-yielding growth. Flooding ensures a good supply of nutrients. When cut sufficiently early, the feed value of 5 is satisfactory, as is the yield. Reed canary grass that has become over-mature and unpalatable is only useful for straw. It is unsuitable for grazing and not tolerant of frequent cutting. Rarely cultivated, and only useful for areas prone to flooding.
Botanical features
| Leaf | Leaf rolled in the bud, leaf sheath open and glabrous. Broad leaf blade up to 20 mm wide with a pointed tip, no ribbing or keel. Ligule long to very long and collar-shaped, white, often split. Auricles absent. |
| Culm | Stiffly erect culm up to 180 cm tall, lower section often branched. New shoots develop after cutting, but few of these produce inflorescences. |
| Inflorescence | Panicles 10–20 cm long. These spread out during flowering, but are otherwise closed. Lower nodes of the main axis each have 2 side branches. Side branches up to 5 cm long with numerous tightly bunched spikelets. |
| Fruit | Grain 3–4 mm long, lanceolate, pointed tip, whitish hairs, tips divergent. Grain whitish grey in colour. Bright yellow veins on lemma. Caryopsis long, flat and ovate, dullish dark brown. The TSW is 0.5–1.1 g. |