The following description is taken from the Flora of China Editorial Committee (2016):
Annual, tufted. Culms 15–100 cm tall. Uppermost leaf sheath inflated;leaf blades 2–9 mm wide;ligule 2–8 mm. Panicle dense, narrowly oblong, 4–10 cm, base enclosed in uppermost leaf sheath. Spikelets arranged in clusters composed of 1 fertile spikelet encircled by 6 sterile spikelets, clusters falling entire, sterile spikelets sometimes reduced to club-shaped clusters of glumes. Fertile spikelet: glumes 4.5–6 mm, prominently 7–9-veined, narrowly winged, wing expanded near middle into large tooth, pale green or straw-coloured with dark green stripe above tooth, apex attenuate;sterile lemmas abortive, represented by 2 minute fleshy scales at base of fertile lemma;fertile lemma elliptic, 2.8–3.2 mm, cartilaginous, shiny, sparsely pilose toward apex. Anthers 1–1.8 mm.
Related invasive species
- Phalaris paradoxa
Related Farm Practice
- Flora
P. paradoxa is a tufted annual grass which is considered a weed in many areas and can be invasive. It contains tryptamine alkaloids, which are toxic to some animals. It is native to the Mediterranean region of Europe, but has spread to locations including the USA, Australia and South America. It is a serious weed of wheat in Australia, with its success attribued to high seed production, innate dormancy and periodicity of emergence (Taylor et al., 1999).
A list of crops in which the annual Phalaris spp. (P. paradoxa, P. brachystachys and P. minor) are actual, or potential weed problems would include virtually every annual winter (autumn-sown) crop of temperate regions and every annual summer (spring-sown) crop in colder, subtemperate regions within the geographical range of these species. The list provided includes only those crops where Phalaris species are commonly reported as weed problems. P. paradoxa is most often listed as a weed of cereals (especially wheat), and is the second most prominent annual winter grass weed in the northern grain region of Australia (Taylor et al., 1999).