This giant grass from the Mediterranean region is reportedly naturalized across southern states (FNA 25). In Ky. it may just be persistent from old ornamental plantings, but at least in some Appalachian river valleys, it appears remarkably aggressive locally along roads and woodland edges. The tribe Arundineae has been revised and downsized recently to include only Arundo (with perhaps three species) and a few genera in South Africa and Australia (Hardion et al. 2017). A new tribe Crinipedeae has been established to includes other African genera. And the tribe Molinieae has been split from Arundineae to contain only Phragmites (see under that name), Molinia (a widespread Euasian genus) and Hakonechloa (with one species, endemic to Japan but widely cultivated as an ornamental in shade; FNA 25).