Phalaris lemmonii
Phalaris angusta
Lemmon's Canary grass
narrow canarygrass, timothy Canary grass
(7)25-150 cm.
10-170 cm.
(2)3-20 cm long, 0.6-1.5 cm wide, cylindrical, evidently branched below;
branches to 2 cm, spikelets borne singly, not clustered.
2-20 cm long, 0.6-1.5 cm wide, cylindrical, discontinuous, sometimes lobed;
branches sometimes evident, spikelets borne singly, not clustered.
homogamous, with (2)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.
4.5-6.7 mm long, 0.9-1.1 mm wide, acuminate, keels not or only slightly winged, wings to 0.2 mm wide, keels, lateral veins, and adjacent surfaces scabrous;
sterile florets (1)2, 1-1.6 mm, densely appressed-hairy;
bisexual florets 2.7-5.1 mm long, 1.2-1.6 mm wide, shiny, stramineous to gray-brown, mostly hairy with spreading hairs, apices glabrous, strongly acuminate to beaked;
anthers 0.7-2 mm.
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.
1.5-8 mm, acute;
blades to 14 cm long, 1-8 mm wide, smooth, shiny, sometimes revolute.
4-7 mm, truncate to rounded or obtuse, lacerate;
blades 3-15 cm long, 2-12 mm wide.
= 14.
= 14.
Phalaris lemmonii
Phalaris angusta
Phalaris lemmonii is native to California, but it has also been found in Victoria, Australia. It grows in moist areas, and appears to hybridize with both P. caroliniana and P. angusta (Baldini 1995). The strongly beaked tips of the bisexual florets are a useful distinguishing feature.
Beecher Crampton noted on one unusually small specimen (UTC 230918) that it was the vernal pool ecotype of the species. He did not publish his observations.
Anderson (1961) and Baldini (1995) distinguished Phalaris lemmonii from P. platensis Henrard ex Wacht., a narrowly distributed South American taxon, arguing that it was slightly longer in the length of its ligules, glumes, florets, and anthers, but many California specimens fall within the range given for P. platensis rather than that for P. lemmonii. Phalaris lemmonii is the older name so, if further research shows that the two species should be combined, P. lemmonii will remain as the correct name for plants from the Flora region.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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.)
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
OR
Flora NW
LA Plants
PNW Herbaria
