Phalaris/other grass types ID thread

[shabazich]

With inspiration from earlier threads from sidisheikh - I've found a nice patch of phalaris

Now i need some help to distinguish between p. brachystachys and aquatica... in the attached photos, the first photo of the phalaris growing appears closer to aquatica, while the 2nd photos (on the rock) appear more like brachystachys

thanks for your help!

 

[Sidisheikh.mehriz]

With inspiration from earlier threads from sidisheikh - I've found a nice patch of phalaris

Now i need some help to distinguish between p. brachystachys and aquatica... in the attached photos, the first photo of the phalaris growing appears closer to aquatica, while the 2nd photos (on the rock) appear more like brachystachys

thanks for your help!

View attachment 97476View attachment 97477View attachment 97478

No sure way to confirm 100% based on these pictures but there's a way around that. You need to uproot the grass and take a close ppi. Of the roots .. if it's got red root tips on the new root growth near the stem base it's either an aquatica or minor. It's the root tip is yellow it's definitely an aquatica. Minor is usually smaller than aquatica... So that's one way to distinguish between them without seeds.


If the roots have no colouration you can confidently say it's brachystachys. Search the annual rainfall in your area. Of its 400mm and above that aauatica favourable habitat.mif less then that it's either minor or brachys...anything below 300mm rainfall and you can confidently say it's brachystachys.

Never base your identification on one aspect...it's usually a combination of of all of the above cues that gives you 100% accuracy...

 

[shabazich]

Thanks sidi - really enjoying the learning experience with this plant ally so far, particularly how the searhing process helps attune my attention to all the beautiful flowers and grasses out in the field

Anyways, attached are some resources I have found while trying to improve my id skills for this genus. Maybe it will help someone else.View attachment phalaris drawing.jpeg

 

[shabazich]

Returned to the field for more research - with you advice sidi I collected some phalaris with roots attached. roots appear colorless, with one specimen showing a slight pink coloration where the rootjoins the stem. pictures attached.

Still figuring out the identification keys around glumes and lemmas and so on... of course what we find in the field is rarely exactly the same as what's written in the books...