Phalaris lemmonii
Phalaris paradoxa
Lemmon's Canary grass
awn Canary-grass, hood Canary grass, hooded canarygrass, Mediterranean Canary grass
(7)25-150 cm.
20-100 cm, not swollen at the base.
(2)3-20 cm long, 0.6-1.5 cm wide, cylindrical, evidently branched below;
branches to 2 cm, spikelets borne singly, not clustered.
3-9 cm long, about 2 cm wide, dense, obovoid to clavate, tapering at the base, rounded to truncate at the top;
branches with groups of 5-6 usually staminate, rarely sterile spikelets clustered around a terminal pistillate or bisexual spikelet;
pedicels hispid;
disarticulation beneath the spikelet clusters.
homogamous, with (2)3 florets, terminal floret bisexual;
disarticulation above the glumes, beneath the sterile florets.
heterogamous, with 3 florets, lower 2 florets sterile and highly reduced, terminal floret usually staminate, pistillate, or bisexual, rarely sterile.
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.
of staminate or sterile spikelets varying, those at the base of the panicle reduced to knobs of tissue terminating the pedicels, those higher up often clavate, those near the top of the panicle similar to the glumes of the sexual spikelets but somewhat narrower;
glumes of pistillate or bisexual spikelets 4-8 mm long, about 1 mm wide, keeled, keels winged, wings 0.2-0.4 mm wide, terminating below the apices and forming a single, prominent tooth, lateral veins conspicuous, apices acuminate to awned, awns about 0.5 mm;
sterile florets of all spikelets 0.2-0.4 mm, knoblike projections on the calluses of the terminal florets often with 1-2 hairs;
terminal florets of all spikelets 2.5-3.5 mm long, 0.8-1.5 mm wide, indurate, shiny, glabrous or with a few short hairs near the tip;
anthers 1.5-2.5 mm.
1.5-8 mm, acute;
blades to 14 cm long, 1-8 mm wide, smooth, shiny, sometimes revolute.
3-5 mm, truncate to acute;
blades 5-10(15) cm long, 2-5 mm wide.
= 14.
= 14.
Phalaris lemmonii
Phalaris paradoxa
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 paradoxa is native to the Mediterranean region; it is now found throughout the world, primarily in harbor areas and near old ballast dumps. It is an established weed in parts of Arizona and California. Within an inflorescence, the most reduced sterile spikelets are located near the base, and the most nearly normal spikelets are near the top.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
OR
WA
Flora NW
LA Plants
MD Biodiversity
PNW Herbaria
