''Phalaris caroliniana'' is a species of

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

known as Carolina canarygrass and maygrass.

Background

It is native to the southern United States,USDA Plants Profile: Phalaris caroliniana
/ref> and it can be found as a

naturalized species Naturalisation (or naturalization) is the ecological phenomenon through which a species, taxon, or population of exotic (as opposed to native) origin integrates into a given ecosystem, becoming capable of reproducing and growing in it, and procee ...

along the west coast of the United States, as well as northern Mexico and parts of Europe and Australia. It is most often found in moist to wet habitats, such as marshy meadows, and it can thrive in disturbed areas. It is an annual grass reaching a maximum height between . The hairy

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is roughly oval in shape and up to long by wide. This grass probably made up part of the

Eastern Agricultural Complex The Eastern Agricultural Complex in the woodlands of eastern North America was one of about 10 independent centers of plant domestication in the pre-historic world. Incipient agriculture dates back to about 5300 BCE. By about 1800 BCE the Native ...

of plants cultivated by prehistoric

Native Americans in the United States Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Americans, and other terms, are the Indigenous peoples of the mainland United States ( Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, Alaska and territories of the United State ...

. Its grains have been identified in

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

s from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

which may be four millennia old. Laboratory analysis of the grass seed indicates that it is quite nutritious, with a good amount of vitamins and minerals.Crites, G. D. & R. D. Terry. (1984). Nutritive value of maygrass, ''Phalaris caroliniana''. ''Economic Botany'' 38:1 114-20.

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Phalaris caroliniana''Grass Manual Treatment - ''Phalaris caroliniana''
caroliniana Grasses of the United States Grasses of Alabama Native grasses of Texas Flora of the Southeastern United States Crops originating from Pre-Columbian North America Plants described in 1788 Cereals Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Pooideae-stub