Phalaris canariensis

(Annual Canarygrass, Canary Grass, Common Canary Grass, Common Canarygrass)

Overview:

Conservation Status

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Population Analysis

For the 283,255 species in the Class Liliopsida (Monocotyledons), we average 3.99 observations each in our database; for the Common Canary Grass, we have 580 observations. Compared to other species in this Class, this species is extremely common.
A two-sample t-test can be used to determine whether the trend in observations of the Common Canary Grass is the same as the trend in observations of Liliopsida. Is this species just as common, as a proportion of all observations, as it once was? The answer is no, changes in observation rate of this species significantly differ from changes in observation rate of its Class. (t=2.582, p<0.005)
How do observation rates of the Common Canary Grass differ from those of Liliopsida? To answer this, we examined the percentage of observerations for Liliopsida that were observations of the Common Canary Grass each year. We then correlated this percentage with observation year. If observations of the Common Canary Grass are becoming more common relative to other species of Liliopsida, the correlation should be positive, but if it is becoming less common, the correlation should be negative. In fact, the correlation is negative (r=-.29), with a negative slope (m = -.001), suggesting that the Common Canary Grass may be in decline relative to other species of Liliopsida. This correlation is statistically significant. (F = 92.28, p<.05)
The scatter chart to the right shows the percentage of all observations for Liliopsida each year that were observations of the Common Canary Grass.

Population Trend:

Growing

Taxonomy

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Domain: Eukaryota Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
- Kingdom: Plantae Haeckel, 1866 - Plants
  - Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae Cavalier-Smith, 1981 - Green Plants
    - Phylum: Magnoliophyta Cronquist, Takhtajan & W. Zimmermann, 1966 - Flowering Plants
      - Subphylum: Spermatophytina (auct.) Cavalier-Smith, 1998 - Seed Plants
        Infraphylum: Angiospermae auct.
        Class: Liliopsida Scopoli, 1760 - Monocotyledons
        Subclass: Commelinidae Takhtajan, 1967
        Superorder: Poanae (Small, 1903) Takhtajan, 1997 ex Reveal & Doweld, 1999
        Order: Poales Small, 1903
        Family: Poaceae (poh-AY-see-ay) (R. Brown) Barnhart, 1895 - Grass Family
        Subfamily: Pooideae
        Tribe: Aveneae
        Genus: Phalaris (FAL-ah-ris) L'HÃ©ritier ex W. Aiton, 1789 - Canarygrass
        Specific epithet: canariensis L.
        Botanical name: Phalaris canariensis L.

Notes:

Name Status: Accepted Name. Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Place of publication: Sp. pl. 1:54. 1753

Name verified on 25-Jan-1996 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 19-Apr-2000

Physical Description

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Family Poaceae:

Annual or perennial herbs, or tall woody bamboos. Flowering stems (culms) jointed, internodes hollow or solid; branches arising singly from nodes and subtended by a leaf sheath and 2-keeled prophyll, often fascicled in bamboos. Leaves arranged alternately in 2 ranks, differentiated into sheath, blade, and an adaxial erect appendage at sheath/blade junction (ligule) ; leaf sheath surrounding and supporting culm-internode, split to base or infrequently tubular with partially or completely fused margins, modified with reduced blade in bamboos (culm sheaths) ; leaf blades divergent, usually long, narrow and flat, but varying from inrolled and filiform to ovate, veins parallel, sometimes with cross-connecting veinlets (especially in bamboos) ; ligule membranous or a line of hairs. Inflorescence terminal or axillary, an open, contracted, or spikelike panicle, or composed of lax to spikelike racemes arranged along an elongate central axis, or digitate, paired, or occasionally solitary; axillary inflorescences often many, subtended by spatheoles (specialized bladeless leaf sheaths) and gathered into a leafy compound panicle; spikelets often aggregated into complex clusters in bamboos. Spikelets composed of distichous bracts arranged along a slender axis (rachilla) ; typically 2 lowest bracts (glumes) empty, subtending 1 to many florets; glumes often poorly differentiated from accompanying bracts in bamboos. Florets composed of 2 opposing bracts enclosing a single small flower, outer bract (lemma) clasping the more delicate, usually 2-keeled inner bract (palea) ; base of floret often with thickened prolongation articulated with rachilla (callus) ; lemma often with apical or dorsal bristle (awn), glumes also sometimes awned. Flowers bisexual or unisexual; lodicules (small scales representing perianth) 2, rarely 3 or absent, 3 to many in bamboos, hyaline or fleshy; stamens 3 rarely 1, 2, 6, or more in some bamboos, hypogynous, filaments capillary, anthers versatile; ovary 1-celled, styles (1 or) 2(rarely 3), free or united at base, topped by feathery stigmas, exserted from sides or apex of floret. Fruit normally a dry indehiscent caryopsis with thin pericarp firmly adherent to seed, pericarp rarely free, fleshy in some bamboos; embryo small or large; hilum punctate to linear.

About 700 genera and 11,000 species: widely distributed in all regions of the world.^[1]

Habit: Graminoid

Images:

Phalaris canariensis Phalaris canariensis Phalaris canariensis (annual canarygrass) Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase). 1950. Manual of the grasses of the United States. USDA Misc. Publ. No. 200. Washington, DC. 1950 Permissions for Use: See here. ZipcodeZoo Photo ID: 24936

Distribution

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Range and Population

North America

Native: Portugal - Azores.

Reproduction

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Duration: Annual

Growth

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Culture: Space 6-9" apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun.

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Phalaris:

Members of the genus Phacelia:

Bibliography

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Alderson, J. & W. C. Sharp. 1995. Grass varieties in the United States, U.S.D.A. Agric. Handb. 170, rev. ed. (Grass VarUSA)
Baldini, R. M. 1995. Revision of the genus Phalaris L. (Gramineae). Webbia 49:285.
Bor, N. L. 1960. The grasses of Burma, Ceylon, India, and Pakistan. (Grass BCIP)
Chen Shouliang, Jin Yuexing, Zhuang Tide, Fang Wenzhe, Sheng Guoying, Liu Liang, Wu Zhenlan, Lu Shenglian, Sun Bisin, Hu Zhihao, Wang Song, Sun Xiangzhong, Wang Huiqin, Yang Xilin, Wang Chaopin, Li Binggui & Wen Shaobin. 1990. Gramineae (Poaceae) (4). In: Chen Shouliang, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 10(1):1401
Chen Shouliang, Zhuang Tide, Fang Wenzhe, Sheng Guoying, Jin Yuexing, Liu Liang, Sun Bisin, Hu Zhihao & Wang Song. 1997. Gramineae (Poaceae) (5). In: Chen Shouliang, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 10(2): 1301
Davis, P. H., ed. 1965–1988. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands. (F Turk)
Kartesz, J. T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. (L US Can ed2)
Koyama, T. 1987. Grasses of Japan and its neighboring regions. (Grass Japan)
Liu Liang, Zhu Taiping, Chen Wenli, Wu Zhenlan & Lu Shenglian. Gramineae (Poaceae) (2). In: Liu Liang, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 9(2): 1405
Lu Sheng-lian, Sun Yong-hua, Liu Shang-wu, Yang Yong-chang, Wu Zhen-lan, Kuo Pen-chao, Yang Hsi-ling, Wang Chao-pin & Tsui Nai-ran. 1987. Gramineae (3). In: Kuo Pen-chao, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 9(3): 1329
Malezasdemexico. Malezas de México - on-line resource. (Malezas Mex)
Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. (Food Feed Crops US)
McGuffin, M. et al., eds. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. (Herbs Commerce ed2)
Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. (Dict Rehm)
Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964–1980. Flora europaea. (F Eur)
Wang Zhengping, Ye Guanghan, Yang Yaling, Yu Zehua, Hu Chenhua, Geng Bojie, Feng Xuelin, Jia Liangzhi, Xia Nianhe, Li Dezhu, Zhang Weiping, Xue Jiru, Zhu Zhengde, Zhao Qiseng, Chen Shouliang, Sheng Guoying, Chen Shaoyun, Yao Changyu, Lu Jionglin, Sun Jiliang, Lin Wantao, Yi Tongpei, Zhao Huiru, Wen Taihui & Dai Qihui. 1996. Gramineae (Poaceae) (1).

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Notes

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Contributors:

Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed November 15, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 43 providers.
USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (April 30, 2008)

Data Sources:

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 15, 2007:

Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Bishop Museum Natural History Specimen Data
Biologiezentrum der Oberoesterreichischen Landesmuseen, Biologiezentrum Linz
Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Herbarium Willing
Bundesamt fÃ¼r Naturschutz / Zentralstelle fÃ¼r PhytodiversitÃ¤t Deutschland, Bundesamt fuer Naturschutz / Zentralstelle fuer Phytodiversitaet Deutschland
Conservatoire botanique national du Bassin parisien, Conservatoire botanique national du Bassin parisien
International Plant Genetic Resources Institute(IPGRI), EURISCO
International Plant Genetic Resources Institute(IPGRI), The System-wide Information Network for Genetic Resources
JyvÃ¤skylÃ¤ University Museum - The Section of Natural Sciences, Vascular plant collection of Jyvaskyla University Museum
Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
NLBIF, Limnodata
Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Vascular Plant Herbarium, Oslo
Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Vascular Plants, Field notes, Oslo
Oregon State University, Vascular Plant Collection
School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Arizona State University Vascular Plant Herbarium
SteiermÃ¤rkisches Landesmuseum Joanneum - Herbarium GJO, Herbarium GJO
The Swedish Museum of Natural History
, Botany
The Swedish Museum of Natural History
, Herbarium of Oskarshamn
The Swedish Museum of Natural History
, Lund Botanical Museum
The Swedish Museum of Natural History
, Plants
Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum
UK National Biodiversity Network, Environment and Heritage Service - EHS Species Datasets
USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database

Identifiers:

Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 41336
Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13753826
Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:71610-3
U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: PHCA5
Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 52765

Footnotes:

Shou-liang Chen, De-Zhu Li, Guanghua Zhu, Zhenlan Wu, Sheng-lian Lu, Liang Liu, Zheng-ping Wang, Bi-xing Sun, Zheng-de Zhu, Nianhe Xia, Liang-zhi Jia, Zhenhua Guo, Wenli Chen, Xiang Chen, Yang Guangyao, Sylvia M. Phillips, Chris Stapleton, Robert J. Soreng, Susan G. Aiken, Nikolai N. Tzvelev, Paul M. Peterson, Stephen A. Renvoize, Marina V. Olonova & Klaus Ammann "Poaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 22. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.

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Last Revised: May 03, 2008