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Lemmon's Canary grass

short-spike Canary grass

Habit Plants annual. Plants annual.
Culms

(7)25-150 cm.

80-100 cm.

Panicles

(2)3-20 cm long, 0.6-1.5 cm wide, cylindrical, evidently branched below;

branches to 2 cm, 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.

Spikelets

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.

Glumes

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.

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.

Ligules

1.5-8 mm, acute;

blades to 14 cm long, 1-8 mm wide, smooth, shiny, sometimes revolute.

4-6(7) mm, rounded, lacerate;

blades 4-25 cm long, 3-8(10) mm wide.

2n

= 14.

= 12.

Phalaris lemmonii

Phalaris brachystachys

Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; LA; MO; OR; TX; HI
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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 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.)

Source FNA vol. 24. FNA vol. 24.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Phalaris Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Phalaris
Sibling taxa
P. angusta, P. aquatica, P. arundinacea, P. brachystachys, P. californica, P. canariensis, P. caroliniana, P. coerulescens, P. minor, P. paradoxa
P. angusta, P. aquatica, P. arundinacea, P. californica, P. canariensis, P. caroliniana, P. coerulescens, P. lemmonii, P. minor, P. paradoxa
Name authority Vasey Link
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