Phalaris angusta
Phalaris brachystachys
narrow canarygrass, timothy Canary grass
short-spike Canary grass
10-170 cm.
80-100 cm.
2-20 cm long, 0.6-1.5 cm wide, cylindrical, discontinuous, sometimes lobed;
branches sometimes evident, spikelets borne singly, not clustered.
1.5-5 cm long, 0.8-1.8 cm wide, usually ovoid to ellipsoid, occasionally cylindrical, continuous, not lobed, narrowly truncate at the base, rounded at the top;
branches not evident, spikelets borne singly, not clustered.
homogamous, with 3 florets, terminal floret bisexual;
disarticulation above the glumes, beneath the sterile florets.
homogamous, with 3 florets, terminal floret bisexual;
disarticulation above the glumes, beneath the sterile florets.
2-6 mm long, 0.6-1.1 mm wide, rectangular, often purplish, keels winged, scabrous, wings about 0.4 mm wide, smooth, lateral veins conspicuous, scabrous, apices mucronate;
sterile florets 2, equal, 0.5-1.5 mm, linear, sparsely and inconspicuously hairy;
bisexual florets 2-3.8 mm long, 0.9-1.5 mm wide, laterally compressed, hairy, particularly distally, shiny, apices tapering;
anthers 0.5-1.3 mm.
6-8.5 mm long, 1.4-2.5 mm wide, glabrous or hairy, keels winged on the distal 2/3, wings to 1 mm wide, entire, abruptly pointed;
sterile florets 2, subequal to equal, 0.6-1.2 mm, about 1/5 the length of the bisexual florets, with a tuft of hair at the base, otherwise glabrous;
bisexual florets 4.4-5 mm long, 1.3-2 mm wide, hairy, shiny, brown to dark brown at maturity, acute;
anthers 3-4 mm.
4-7 mm, truncate to rounded or obtuse, lacerate;
blades 3-15 cm long, 2-12 mm wide.
4-6(7) mm, rounded, lacerate;
blades 4-25 cm long, 3-8(10) mm wide.
= 14.
= 12.
Phalaris angusta
Phalaris brachystachys
Phalaris angusta grows in the contiguous United States, primarily in the south. In South America, it is most abundant in a band from Chile to Argentina; it also grows in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Thellung (1911) considered it to be a South American species that is adventive in North America. Throughout its distribution, it tends to grow in open grasslands and prairies.
Baldini (1995) suggested that Phalaris angusta, P. lemmonii, and P. caroliniana are involved in reciprocal hybridization and introgression, particularly in California.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Phalaris brachystachys is native to the Mediterranean region and the Canary Islands, where it grows on waste ground, at the edges of cultivated fields, and on roadsides. It is adventive in northern Europe, Australia, and North America. It is known from a few locations in the Flora region, most of them in California.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
OR
Flora NW
LA Plants
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
MO Plants
