Phalaris paradoxa
Hood canary grass
(c) Konshau Duman, some rights reserved (CC BY) · licence
Family: Poaceae · Type: Grass · Not Native
Phalaris paradoxa (Hood canary grass) is a non-native California grass in the Poaceae family, recognized by spikelets in clusters of 6-7 falling as units.
Hood canary grass is a naturalized annual grass found in the North Coast Ranges, North Coast Interior, Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, Southern Coast, and Desert Son regions in disturbed areas and cultivated fields at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from May to August, this grass produces pale green to white spikelets in dense, compact clusters 3 to 9 centimeters long. Growing with stems 20 to 100 centimeters tall, it forms upright clumps with multiple branching stems. Its inflorescences are distinctive, with fertile spikelets surrounded by 5 to 6 sterile spikelets that fall together as a single unit. The spikelets have conspicuously winged and lobed glumes 5 to 8 millimeters long, giving the plant a unique textural appearance.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 10 sympatric species; key feature is spikelets in clusters of 6-7 falling as units
Habitat and range
Habitat: Disturbed areas, cultivated fields
Elevation: < 300 m
California counties: Madera, San Luis Obispo, Sonoma, Santa Barbara, Orange, Fresno, San Bernardino, Sacramento, Monterey, Riverside, Lake, Alameda, Colusa, Los Angeles, Sutter, Butte, San Mateo, Tulare, Ventura, Imperial, Merced, Napa, San Diego, Santa Clara, Solano, San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Kern, Kings, Mendocino, Marin, San Francisco, Yolo, Stanislaus, Glenn, Tehama, Shasta, Mariposa, San Benito, Yuba, El Dorado, Santa Cruz, Tuolumne, Placer
Outside California: native to Mediterranean Europe
Bloom period
Phalaris paradoxa blooms May-Aug.
How to tell it apart
vs Phleum: Phalaris has an ovate to oblong spike-like panicle with keeled, often winged glumes; timothy is a slender cylindric spike with short-awned, stiffly ciliate-keeled glumes.; vs Alopecurus: Phalaris glumes are free and winged and the shiny fertile lemma is flanked by tiny sterile scales; foxtail has glumes joined at the base and a single awned lemma.; vs Anthoxanthum: Both are spike-like, but sweet vernalgrass smells of coumarin and has two awned sterile lemmas; Phalaris is scentless with reduced scale-like sterile florets.; vs Setaria: Phalaris spikes lack bristles entirely; bristlegrass spikelets are each subtended by persistent bristles.; vs Beckmannia: Phalaris spikelets carry prominent winged glumes; sloughgrass has small round, laterally flattened spikelets crowded on one-sided spikes.
Frequently asked questions
Is Phalaris paradoxa native to California?
No. Phalaris paradoxa is not native to California (recorded as not native).
When does Phalaris paradoxa bloom?
Phalaris paradoxa blooms May-Aug.
Where in California does Phalaris paradoxa grow?
Phalaris paradoxa occurs in Madera, San Luis Obispo, Sonoma, Santa Barbara, Orange, Fresno, San Bernardino, Sacramento and other counties, at elevations of < 300 m.
What plant family does Phalaris paradoxa belong to?
Phalaris paradoxa is in the Poaceae family, genus Phalaris.
What habitat does Phalaris paradoxa grow in?
Phalaris paradoxa grows in Disturbed areas, cultivated fields.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
- Phalaris sp. — Canary grass
- Phalaris angusta — Timothy canary grass
- Phalaris aquatica — Harding grass
- Phalaris arundinacea — Reed canary grass
- Phalaris brachystachys — Short-spiked canary grass
- Phalaris californica — California canary grass
- Phleum alpinum — Alpine timothy
- Phleum pratense — Cultivated timothy
- Phleum sp. — Timothy
Sources: Jepson eFlora · Index of California Plant Names · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-10-07
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.