Phalaris angusta

Nees ex Trin.
Common names: Narrow canarygrass
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 24.

Plants annual. Culms 10-170 cm. Ligules 4-7 mm, truncate to rounded or obtuse, lacerate; blades 3-15 cm long, 2-12 mm wide. Panicles 2-20 cm long, 0.6-1.5 cm wide, cylindrical, discontinuous, sometimes lobed; branches sometimes evident, spikelets borne singly, not clustered. Spikelets homogamous, with 3 florets, terminal floret bisexual; disarticulation above the glumes, beneath the sterile florets. Glumes 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. 2n = 14.

Distribution

Miss., Tex., La., Calif., Ala., Ga., S.C., Ariz., Fla., Oreg., N.Mex.

Discussion

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.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"decumbent" is not a number.

... more about "Phalaris angusta"
membranous +  and scarious +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.13 cm1.3 mm <br />0.0013 m <br />) +
tapering +  and mucronate +
Mary E. Barkworth +
Nees ex Trin. +
1 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
straight +
basal +  and terminal +
keeled +  and rounded +
pseudopetiolate +  and branching +
intravaginal +, extravaginal +, branching +  and basal +
swelling +
3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
not evident +
cross +, linear +  and narrowly lanceolate +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br />) +
spikelike +
hairy +  and glabrous +
Narrow canarygrass +
not branching +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (230 cm2,300 mm <br />2.3 m <br />) +
decumbent +  and erect +
swollen +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (170 cm1,700 mm <br />1.7 m <br />) +
not woody +
Miss. +, Tex. +, La. +, Calif. +, Ala. +, Ga. +, S.C. +, Ariz. +, Fla. +, Oreg. +  and N.Mex. +
1/4 +  and 1/3 +
liquid +, soft +  and hard +
capillary +
pistillate +  and staminate +
hairy +  and glabrous +
acute +  and acuminate or beaked +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.38 cm3.8 mm <br />0.0038 m <br />) +
sometimes longer +
2 +  and 3 +
bisexual +  and sterile +
compressed +
reduced +
0.5mm +  and 1.5mm +
0.9mm +  and 1.5mm +
2mm +  and 6mm +
shorter or longer +
subtending +
rectangular +
subequal +
0.6mm +  and 1.1mm +
uncinate +
ovoid +  and cylindrical +
distributed +
1-7(9)-veined +
0 +  and 3/4 +
lanceolate +  and linear +
lacerate +, truncate +  and rounded or obtuse +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
inconspicuous +
lanceolate +
concealed +  and prominent +
2 +  and 1 +
well-developed +
2-keeled +
2cm +  and 20cm +
lobed +  and cylindrical +
0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
dry +  and fleshy +
pistillate +  and pedicellate +
single +, 10 +  and 200 +
compressed +
0.07 cm0.7 mm <br />7.0e-4 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
1 +  and 3 +
simple +  and compound +
2 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
plumose +
Gramineae +
Phalaris angusta +
Phalaris +
species +
bisexual +  and sterile +
membranous +
parallel +  and converging +
hairy +  and glabrous +
aquatic +  and terrestrial +