Phalaris arundinacea

Reed canary grass

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Reed canary grass is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Great Valley, southern Coast Ranges, North Coast, White and Inyo Mountains, and Mojave Desert in moist woodland habitats at elevations below 1,700 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces pale green to purple-tinged flowers in dense, branching clusters 5 to 40 centimeters long. Growing with robust rhizomatous stems 50 to 250 centimeters tall, it forms extensive spreading patches in wet environments. Its leaves are long, flat, and bright green, with blades typically 10 to 20 millimeters wide, arranged alternately along the stem. The delicate flower clusters have a distinctive feathery texture, with small sterile lemmas creating a soft, purplish appearance.

Habitat: Moist habitats, woodland

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: < 1700 m

Bioregions: NW, CaRH, SN, GV, SCoRO, MP, W&ampI, DMoj

California counties: Fresno, Los Angeles, San Joaquin, Solano, Mendocino, Lake, Plumas, Lassen, Inyo, Alameda, Modoc, Mono, San Diego, Sonoma, Madera, El Dorado, Contra Costa, Merced, Nevada, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tulare, Shasta, Alpine, Humboldt, Kings, Placer, Yuba, Butte, Del Norte, Marin, Trinity, Tuolumne, Kern, Yolo, Sacramento, Tehama, Santa Cruz

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.