''Phalaris angusta'' is a species of

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

known by the common names timothy canarygrass and narrow canarygrass. It is native to the Americas, where it is most common in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and can be found in northern South America and sections of the southwestern and southeastern United States. It is also known as an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It grows in grassland, prairie, marshland, and other habitat.

Description

''Phalaris angusta'' is an annual grass reaching as much as 2.5 meters tall. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is a narrow cylindrical spike of rough-haired, pointed spikelets.

Toxicity

Like some other ''

Phalaris Phalaris () was the tyrant of Akragas (now Agrigento) in Sicily in Magna Graecia, from approximately 570 to 554 BC. History Phalaris was renowned for his excessive cruelty. Among his alleged atrocities is cannibalism: he was said to have eaten ...

'' species, this grass is

toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

. Calves that eat the grass develop

neurological Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the s ...

signs such as

tremor A tremor is an involuntary, somewhat rhythmic muscle contraction and relaxation involving neural oscillations, oscillations or twitching movements of one or more body parts. It is the most common of all involuntary movements and can affect the h ...

s and

convulsion A convulsion is a medical condition where the body muscles contract and relax rapidly and repeatedly, resulting in uncontrolled shaking. Because epileptic seizures typically include convulsions, the term ''convulsion'' is often used as a synony ...

s and gross examination of their brain tissue reveals large blue-green lesions. Some cattle and sheep die suddenly after grazing in pastures of the grass, while some linger with signs of neurological compromise.Odriozola, E., et al. (1991). Neuropathological effects and deaths of cattle and sheep in Argentina from ''Phalaris angusta''. ''Veterinary and Human Toxicology'' 43:5 465-7.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfileGrass Manual Treatment
angusta Grasses of Argentina Flora of Argentina Flora of Chile Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Flora of California Native grasses of California Native grasses of Texas Grasses of Alabama Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora of northern South America Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Pooideae-stub