Index / Search / Phalaris aquatica

§1 Plant

Phalaris aquatica L.

vernacular bulbous canarygrass — species · Poaceae


USDA
PHAQ
GBIF
5289746
Rank
species
bulbous canarygrass (Phalaris aquatica)
Platephotograph · stanley8mCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Graminoid
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus
Phalaris
§2a

Native status, by region

  • HI Hawaii Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
§2b

County-level range

· 46 counties across 6 states/territories
Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 46 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
High
Shade
High
Moisture use
High
Fire
High
Salinity
Medium
Anaerobic
High
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
7 °F minimum
Frost-free days
240 min.
Precipitation
16–40 in/yr
pH range
5.4–7.5
Root depth
12 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
4 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Dense
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Black
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Early Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Spring
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
340,800
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
High
Graze palatability
High
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Medium
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 46 counties across 6 states/territories.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/PHAQ ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5289746 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z