“This Stowaway Plant Is Here to Stay” in Feral Atlas: The More-than-Human Anthropocene (with Thomas Bassett) Stanford University Press

"If you have driven along a highway in North America, you have seen stands of phragmites or common reed in roadside ditches....A majestic plant that grows up to 18 feet tall, phragmites produces feathery purplish tassels that wave above the stems in late summer and turn golden tan as they age."