Phalaris arundinacea, or reed canary grass, is a tall, perennial bunchgrass 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, Asia, northern Africa and North America. Other common names for the plant include gardener’s-garters in English, alpiste roseau in French, rohrglanzgras in German, kusa-yoshi in Japanese, caniço-malhado in Portuguese, and hierba cinta and pasto cinto in Spanish.
The stems can reach 2 metres (6.6 ft) in height. The leaf blades are usually green, but may be variegated. The panicles are up to 30 centimeters long. The spikelets are light green, often streaked with darker green or purple. This is a perennial grass which spreads underground by its thick rhizomes.
A number of cultivars of P. arundinacea have been selected for use as ornamental plants, including variegated (striped) cultivars – sometimes called ribbon grass – such as ’Castor’ and ’Feesey’. The latter has a pink tinge to the leaves. 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 soils and contaminated industrial sites, and researchers at Teesside University’s Contaminated Land & Water Centre have suggested it as the ideal candidate for phytoremediation in improving soil quality and biodiversity at brownfield 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.
P. arundinacea is also planted as a hay crop or for forage.
This species of Phalaris may also be used as a source for the psychedelic drugs DMT, 5-MeO-DMT and 5-OH-DMT (bufotenin), as well as Hordenine 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 and Mimosa tenuiflora, large enough quantities of the grass can be refined to make an ad hoc ayahuasca brew.
In many places, P. arundinacea is an invasive species in wetlands, particularly in disturbed areas. It has been reported as an invasive weed in floodplains, riverside meadows, and other wetland habitat types around the world. When P. arundinacea invades a wetland, it inhibits native vegetation and reduces biological diversity. It alters the entire ecosystem. The grass propagates by seed and rhizome, and once established, is difficult to eradicate.
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.
Specimins contain varying levels of hordenine and gramine.
Leaves of P. arundinacea contain DMT, 5-MeO-DMT and related compounds. Levels of beta-carbolines and hordenine have also been reported.
Phalaris arundinacea 或蘆葦金絲雀草是一種高大的多年生草叢,通常形成廣泛的單一物種,分佈在湖泊和溪流邊緣以及潮濕的開闊地區,廣泛分佈於歐洲、亞洲、北非和北美。該植物的其他常見名稱包括英語的園丁吊襪帶、法語的 alpiste roseau、德語的 rohrglanzgras、日語的 kusa-yoshi、葡萄牙語的 caniço-malhado 以及西班牙語的 hierba cinta 和 pasto cinto。
莖的高度可達 2 米(6.6 英尺)。葉片通常是綠色的,但也可能是雜色的。圓錐花序長達30厘米。小穗呈淺綠色,通常帶有深綠色或紫色條紋。這是一種多年生草,通過其厚厚的根莖在地下蔓延。
已選擇許多 P. arundinacea 品種作為觀賞植物,包括雜色(條紋)品種——有時稱為帶狀草——例如“Castor”和“Feesey”。後者的葉子帶有粉紅色。長大後,雖然耐旱,但喜歡豐富的水,甚至可以作為水生植物種植。
蘆葦草在貧瘠的土壤和受污染的工業場地上生長良好,蒂賽德大學受污染的土地和水中心的研究人員認為,它是植物修復的理想候選者,可改善棕地的土壤質量和生物多樣性。
草也可以很容易地變成磚塊或顆粒,用於生物質發電站的燃燒。此外,它還提供可用於紙漿和造紙工藝的纖維。
P. arundinacea 也作為乾草作物或草料種植。
這種 Phalaris 也可用作迷幻藥物 DMT、5-MeO-DMT 和 5-OH-DMT(bufotenin)以及 Hordenine 和 5-MeO-NMT 的來源;然而,N,N-DMT 被認為是最理想的。這些化合物中的這些化合物比遷徙的 asthsaur vinis 和 moflora 的其他來源要少,足以精製以製造 anhoc ayasca 啤酒。
在許多地方,紫檀屬植物是濕地的入侵物種,特別是在受干擾的地區。據報導,它是世界各地洪氾區、河邊草地和其他濕地棲息地類型的入侵性雜草。當 P. arundinacea 入侵濕地時,它會抑制原生植被並降低生物多樣性。它改變了整個生態系統。草以種子和根莖繁殖,一旦生根,