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GRASSES OF THE COLUMBIA BASIN OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Heather Stewart, Richard Hebda Major Groups of Grasses Table of Contents Glossary Phalaris Canary Grass This wide-ranging genus consists of almost 20 species, mostly of the temperate regions. Its name derives from the Greek word phalaris, meaning a type of grass. There are two species of Phalaris in British Columbia, Phalaris arundinacea and Phalaris canariensis, which has not been collected in the Columbia Basin.   Phalaris arundinacea L. Reed Canary Grass Plant: Phalaris arundinacea is a native species that grows to over 200 cm tall. It is a robust, wide-leaved colony-forming perennial with a rhizome and a prominent spike-shaped head. Leaves and Stem: The stems are 70-200 cm tall, stout and arise from long, scaly, pinkish rhizomes. The sheaths are open but the margins overlap. The leaf blades are 5-15 mm wide, flat and feel rough. There are no auricles. The ligules are 4-10 mm long and often have a tattered, bent tip. Flowerhead and Flowers: The flowerhead is up to 25 cm long, compact and somewhat spike-shaped. Three-flowered spikelets are crowded onto side branches. Glumes are about the same size and enclose one fertile and two reduced, sterile flowers. Lemmas are rounded and smaller than the glumes. Habitat: Reed Canary Grass grows widely in moist to seasonally wet sites, such as roadside ditches, the edges of swamps, marshes and streams, wet meadows and in open seepage sites. Common in wet areas of abandoned fields and pastures and disturbed sites. It is considered a native species, but introduced populations are suspected to be responsible for the weedy patches of this species. The distribution of this species is circumpolar. In the Columbia Basin region it occurs at Creston, Columbia Lake, Kootenay Lake, Kimberly and in the Flathead area. Similar Species: Overwintering plants form extensive beige-coloured colonies that are easy to spot in the winter and spring months. In a vegetative state, Reed Canary Grass may be confused with the other tall wetland grasses such as Common Reed (Phragmites australis). The ligule of Reed Canary Grass is pointed, long and all membranelike, whereas that of Common Reed has hair along the upper edge and is blunt rather than pointed.

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