Phalaris canariensis  L.   Poaceae  (Grass Family)   Canary Islands   Canary Grass

                                          May Photo

Plant Characteristics:  Annual; culms erect, 30-60 cm. tall; panicle ovate to oblong-ovate, 1.5-3 cm. long, pale with green markings; glumes 7-8 mm. long, widened above, abruptly pointed, smooth or sparsely villous, the keel prominently winged above, the wing entire or somewhat sinuous, the keel on each side at base of the white wing marked by a green stripe, the lateral nerves approaching the margin; fertile lemma elliptic, acute, densely short-villous, 5-6 mm. long; sterile lemmas  2, about half as long as fertile.

Habitat:  Occasional weed in waste places below 4000 ft., San Diego Co., n.; April-May.

Name:  Phalaris, ancient Greek name for a grass.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 989).  Canariensis,  of the Canary Islands.  (Bailey 12).

General:  Uncommon in the study area having been found only twice and this just below the bluff top in the Castaway's Bluff area.  There were two specimens, both in a small draw fed by runoff from the area above.  In 2005, two more clumps of the grass were found on the south-facing slope of upper Big Canyon. (my comments).       This native of the Mediterranean region, which furnishes the canary seed of commerce, is an occasional escape from cultivation.  (Robbins et al. 96).       Occasionally the plants are found on trash heaps where the sweepings from bird cages are deposited, but this species apparently does not grow as a truly wild plant in this country.  (Pohl 81).       "In rural Orange County in the days before 1950, Canary Grass regularly grew year after year at roadsides and around edges of farms.  But as several species look much alike, my identification at the time may have been wrong.  But undoubtedly Canary Grass grew in patches along Modoc Road  for over a mile this spring (1992) here in Santa Barbara.  Sweepings from bird cages would not explain its presence.  In 1927 Jepson reported collections from Yreka to San Diego."  (John Johnson)      Species about 20, in temperate regions of Europe and America.  (Abrams, Vol. I 120).

Text Ref:  Abrams, Vol. I 122; Hickman, Ed. 1282; Munz, Flora So. Calif. 989.

Photo Ref:  May-July 92 # 6; April 2 93 # 24A.

Identity: by R. De Ruff, confirmed by John Johnson.

First Found:  May 1992.

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 427.

Have plant specimen.

Last edit 5/13/05.

                                 April Photo