Phragmites karka Trin. ex Steud. ( Syn  P. karka Retz. , P. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

roxburghii(Kunth)   Steud.; P. maxima Blatter&McCann in part.

Gramineae

 Root 

 Distribution: A tall reed, with thick creeping rhizome, found in marshy

places and    along banks of lakes and streams throughout <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />India, ascending up to   1,300 m. in the Himalayas.

Common uses: The plant is sweet, acrid; cooling, aphrodisiac; useful in

biliousness, urinary troubles, vaginal and uterine complaints, erysipealas, heart diseases.

The root of this reed is regarded as cooling and diuretic by the Chinese. It is considered diuretic and diaphoretic in Spain.

     P. karka is not discriminated from P. communis for

medicinal uses;  the roots are reported to be used also for fractured bones   Like P. communis, this reed is also employed for thatching and for   making mats, baskets, chairs, fences, fish traps, etc. The culms are   also used for hookah pipes, flutes, and pens; the panicles are used for   brooms. The flowering stalks yield a fibre suitable for cordage