Question

Grass or weed?   My friend went away for 3 months, and lives in clearwater florida.  When she returned home, her backyard was overgrown with a plant that looks like giant corn-like leaves and no stalks to speak of.  The leaves are 2 inches wide and again least 6 feet tall.  The is a tan plume with seeds on them. I know sometimes about plants but I have never seen this before, and I usually help her do yard work so we need to identify this and find out how to get rid of this. Thank you any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
anne
One person's valuable plant can be another person's weed...Grass in the lawn VS grass in a flower bed...Your plant looks like a common wetland plant found in FL...Whether it is a weed or not is up to whether you want the the plant in that location...
Flowering plants (angiosperms) are classified by the structure of the flowers they produce...
Plants that grow in one area of the country do not necessarily grow in other areas...
For a quicker and more precise answer I would recommend you take a sample of a section of the plant and/or a picture of the plants to a local garden center (Not chain store)...Ask them if they can ID it...You may have to visit more than one to find someone knowledgeable...

Hope this helps you ID them...
Good luck...
Rick in southern New Jersey