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Shaman Australis Ethnobotanicals (Phalaris aquatica - Phalaris grass - Seeds for sale, Plants for sale)
Phalaris
spp.
Phalaris Grass
Botanical information
Phalaris aquatica: A perenniel plant, it grows to a height of 0.6m with
a spread of 0.4 m. The stem is erect, stout and smooth; the leaves are long,
flat, 1cm wide and grass-like, the flowers are pale green to beige, occurring
in terminal panicles and appearing in early summer.
A native of Southern Europe, but distributed as pasture grass all over the world,
it prefers moist soils with a minimum annual rainfall of 500mm, in a sunny position,
and is frost resistant but drought tender.
Propagation is by seed or division. Plants are self sterile and need at least
two plants grown from different seed to pollinate. Early seedlings are prone
to infections and should not be transplanted for the first few months. This
is especially troublesome with the "AQ1" variety. We strongly suggest
direct seeding of all varieties for better vigour.
There are many different varieties of Phalaris aquatica displaying some very
different growth habits. AUSTRALIAN, SEEDMASTER, MARU and UNETA have vigorous
growth only in spring and autumn, while SIROSA, HOLDFAST and their derivatives
are autumn, winter and spring active. SIROCCO and EL GOLEA are summer dormant.
Variety HARDING (USA) was exported to Australia in 1884 and was renamed there
as variety AUSTRALIA. The seed imported from Argentinia into New Zealand was
named MARU but appears to be almost identical to AUSTRALIA. This is not surprising,
as Phalaris grass was first introduced to Argentinia from Australia. SIROSA
was bred in Australia from AUSTRALIAN and selected Italian strains. SIROCCO
and EL GOLEA were developed in Australia from Moroccan strains for drought hardiness.
SIROLAN is a derivative of SIROCCO. HOLDFAST and UNETA are derivatives of AUSTRALIAN.
Phalaris arundinacea: (Reed Canary Grass, Ribbon Grass) A perenniel plant,
it grows to a height of 1.5m with a spread of 0.5 m. The stem is erect, stout
and smooth; the leaves are long, flat, 2cm wide and reed-like, the flowers are
pale green or purplish, occurring in terminal panicles and appearing in summer.
A native of Europe and North America, it prefers moist, wet soils in marshes
or at the edges of ponds and river banks, and is frost resistant but drought
tender.
Propagation is by seed or division. Plants are self sterile and need at least
two plants grown from different seed to pollinate.
Traditional uses
No traditional uses of these plants are recorded. Use by Australian Aboriginees
(as suggested by C. Raetsch) is unlikely as this species was only introduced
to Australia in 1884 by Mr.R.R. Harding from sources in North America. It may
possibly have arrived undocumented the year before directly from its native
Italy.
Phalaris aquatica is recognised all over the world as a valuable and hardy pasture
grass.
Pharmacology
Phalaris aquatica: The pharmacology of Phalaris aquatica varieties vary
greatly. Generally present are the alkaloids DMT, 5-MeO-DMT and Gramine. Toxicology
studies suggest, that this species has the highet alkaloid levels within the
Phalaris genus. Internet sources claim alkaloid levels from 0.007% to 0.123%
from dried material. The DMT component may range from 60% to 90% of total alkaloids,
while 5-MeO-DMT ranges from about 5% to 30% of total alkaloids. The gramine
content is generally very low. Gramine is quite toxic and may be responsible
for most of the toxic effects possible from Phalaris ingestion. "Phalaris
staggers" a toxic symptom observed in sheep grazing on poor pastures high
in Phalaris is thought to be caused by extremely high alkaloid levels in an
overall poor animal diet, although tests on normal sheep fed with alkaloid extracts,
pure alkaloids and dried Phalaris hay did not produce any toxic symptoms. The
theory of toxicity caused by fungus growing on the grass appears unlikely as
Phalaris staggers are observed mostly in dry seasons (less than ideal climate
for fungus development) and at times of poor pasture. All phalaris species can
be induced to produce more alkaloids by stressing them. Stress can be in the
form of clipping, shading or lack of water and should be applied for one to
two weeks before taking samples.
The strain AQ1 was named by Giorgio Samorini who has done a lot of research
in this field and it is derived from a plant which had an exceptionally high
alkaloid content and high DMT to 5-MeO-DMT ratio. It has very poor seedling
vigour though.
High alkaloid strains are: AQ1, AUSTRALIAN, SEEDMASTER, UNETA and HARDING.
Medium alkaloid strains are: MARU and EL GOLEA.
Low alkaloid strains are: SIROSA, SIROLAN, HOLDFAST and SIROCCO.
Phalaris brachystachys: The aerial parts contain up to 3% alkaloids of
which n,n-dmt is the major constituent, with minor amounts of hordenine, gramine
and bufotenine. This is often claimed to be the most promising species, but
surprisingly very little research has been done on it in comparison to the other
species.
Phalaris arundinacea: The pharmacology of Phalaris arundinacea varies greatly.
Generally present are the alkaloids DMT, MMT, 5-MeO-DMT and Gramine. Gramine
is quite toxic and may be responsible for most of the toxic effects possible
from Phalaris ingestion. All phalaris species can be induced to produce more
alkaloids by stressing them. Stress can be in the form of clipping, shading
or lack of water and should be applied for one to two weeks before taking samples.
Click on Thumbnails to see full size/high resolution picture! (in new
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P.aquatica seedhead
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P.aquatica seed
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P.aquatica plants
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P.aquatica flower
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P.arundinacea plant
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P.arundinacea seedhead
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P.arundinacea (variegated)
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