''Phalaris arundinacea'', or reed canary grass, is a tall,

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

bunchgrass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perenni ...

that commonly forms extensive single-species stands along the margins of lakes and streams and in wet open areas, with a wide distribution in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, northern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and North America. Other common names for the plant include gardener's-garters in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, ''alpiste roseau'' in French, ''Rohrglanzgras'' in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, ''kusa-yoshi'' in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, ''caniço-malhado'' in

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, and ''hierba cinta'' and ''pasto cinto'' in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

.''Phalaris arundinacea''.
USDA NRCS Plant Guide.

Description

The stems can reach in height.Waggy, Melissa, A. 2010.

'. In: Fire Effects Information System. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. The

leaf A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

blades are usually green, but may be

variegated Variegation is the appearance of differently coloured zones in the leaves and sometimes the stems and fruit of plants. Species with variegated individuals are sometimes found in the understory of tropical rainforests, and this habitat is the s ...

. The panicles are up to 30 centimeters long. The spikelets are light green, often streaked with darker green or purple.''Phalaris arundinacea''.
Flora of China. This is a perennial grass which spreads underground by its thick rhizomes.

Uses

A number of cultivars of ''P. arundinacea'' have been selected for use as

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

s, including variegated (striped) cultivars – sometimes called ribbon grass – such as 'Castor' and 'Feesey'. The latter has a pink tinge to the leaves.''Phalaris arundinacea'' var. ''picta'' 'Feesey'.
/ref> When grown, although drought-tolerant, it likes abundant water and can even be grown as an aquatic plant. Reed canary grass grows well on poor soil and contaminated industrial sites, and researchers at

Teesside University , mottoeng = Deeds Not Words , established = 1930 – Constantine Technical College1969 – as Teesside Polytechnic 1992 – gained university status , type = Public , endowment = £0.23 m (2019/20) , chancellor ...

's Contaminated Land & Water Centre have suggested it as the ideal candidate for

phytoremediation Phytoremediation technologies use living plants to clean up soil, air and water contaminated with hazardous contaminants. It is defined as "the use of green plants and the associated microorganisms, along with proper soil amendments and agronom ...

in improving soil quality and biodiversity at

brownfield In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land prev ...

sites. The grass can also easily be turned into bricks or pellets for burning in biomass power stations. Furthermore, it provides fibers which find use in pulp and papermaking processes.Andersson, B. and E. Lindvall
Use of biomass from reed canary grass (''Phalaris arundinacea'') as raw material for production of paper pulp and fuel.
internationalgrasslands.org. ''P. arundinacea'' is also planted as a

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticat ...

crop or for

forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used ...

. This species of ''Phalaris'' may also be used as a source for the psychedelic drugs DMT,

5-MeO-DMT 5-MeO-DMT (5-methoxy-''N'',''N''-dimethyltryptamine) or O-methyl-bufotenin is a psychedelic of the tryptamine class. It is found in a wide variety of plant species, and also is secreted by the glands of at least one toad species, the Colorado R ...

and 5-OH-DMT (bufotenin), as well as

Hordenine Hordenine is an alkaloid of the phenethylamine class that occurs naturally in a variety of plants, taking its name from one of the most common, barley (''Hordeum'' species). Chemically, hordenine is the ''N''-methyl derivative of ''N''-methyltyra ...

and 5-MeO-NMT; however, N,N-DMT is considered most desirable. Although the concentrations of these compounds is lower than in other potential sources, such as ''

Psychotria viridis ''Psychotria viridis'', also known as ''chacruna'', ''chacrona'', or ''chaqruy'' in the Quechua languages, is a perennial, shrubby flowering plant in the coffee family Rubiaceae. It is a close relative of '' Psychotria carthagenensis'' (a.k.a. ...

'' and ''

Mimosa tenuiflora ''Mimosa tenuiflora'', syn. ''Mimosa hostilis'', also known as jurema preta, calumbi (Brazil), tepezcohuite (México), carbonal, cabrera, jurema, black jurema, and binho de jurema, is a perennial tree or shrub native to the northeastern region of ...

'', large enough quantities of the grass can be refined to make an ad hoc

ayahuasca AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' ( Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' desce ...

brew.

Ecology

In many places, ''P. arundinacea'' is an invasive species in

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

s, particularly in disturbed areas. It has been reported as an invasive weed in

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

s, riverside

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or arti ...

s, and other wetland habitat types around the world. When ''P. arundinacea'' invades a wetland, it inhibits native vegetation and reduces

biological diversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...

.Kim, K. D., et al. (2006)
Controlling ''Phalaris arundinacea'' (reed canarygrass) with live willow stakes: A density-dependent response.
''Ecological Engineering'' 26 219–227. It alters the entire

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

.Lavergne, S. and J. Molofsky. (2004)
Reed canary grass (''Phalaris arundinacea'') as a biological model in the study of plant invasions.
''Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences'' 23(5) 415–429. The grass propagates by seed and rhizome, and once established, is difficult to eradicate.

Distribution

''P. arundinacea'' now has world-wide distribution. It is regarded as native to both North America and Eurasia, but this is debated and it appears that the populations in North America are made up of a mixture of cultivars of both those that were introduced from Europe and indigenous varieties. ''citing, inter alia,''

Chemical properties

Specimins contain varying levels of

hordenine Hordenine is an alkaloid of the phenethylamine class that occurs naturally in a variety of plants, taking its name from one of the most common, barley (''Hordeum'' species). Chemically, hordenine is the ''N''-methyl derivative of ''N''-methyltyra ...

and

gramine Gramine (also called donaxine) is a naturally occurring indole alkaloid present in several plant species. Gramine may play a defensive role in these plants, since it is toxic to many organisms. Occurrence Gramine has been found in the giant reed, ...

. Leaves of ''P. arundinacea'' contain DMT,

and related compounds. Levels of

beta-carboline β-Carboline (9''H''- pyrido ,4-''b'' ndole) represents the basic chemical structure for more than one hundred alkaloids and synthetic compounds. The effects of these substances depend on their respective substituent. Natural β-carbolines prima ...

s and

have also been reported.

References

External links

Flora Europaea: ''Phalaris arundinacea''USDA Plants Database: ''Phalaris arundinacea''Jepson Manual Treatment - taxonomy and distribution within California
{{Authority control Bunchgrasses of Africa Bunchgrasses of Asia Bunchgrasses of Europe Bunchgrasses of North America Flora of Korea Garden plants of Asia Garden plants of Europe Garden plants of North America Grasses of Canada Grasses of the United States Herbal and fungal hallucinogens arundinacea Phytoremediation plants Plants described in 1753 Psychedelic tryptamine carriers Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus