Compilation
Phalaris tuberosa

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Name

Identification
Phalaris tuberosa L. [family POACEAE ]
Related name
  • Phalaris tuberosa

Flora

Entry for PHALARIS aquatica L. [family POACEAE]
Herbarium
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K)
Collection
Flora of Tropical East Africa
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of Tropical East Africa, Part (Part 1), page 1, (1970) Author: W. D. Clayton
Names
PHALARIS aquatica L. [family POACEAE], Amoen. Acad. 4: 264 (1755). Type: Egypt, Hasselquist (LINN, lecto.!)
PHALARIS tuberosa L. [family POACEAE], Mant. 2: 557 (1771). Type: Morison 3:6:3 (OXF, holo.)
PHALARIS nodosa Murr. [family POACEAE], Syst. Veg., ed. 13: 88 (1774), nom. illegit. Based on P. tuberosa L.
PHALARIS bulbosa [family POACEAE], [sensu auct., non L. (1755), which is Phleum subulatum (Savi) Aschers. & Graeb.]
Information
Tufted perennial. Culms up to 1.5 m. tall, often bulbous at the base. Panicle 1.5–11 cm. long and 1–2.5 cm. wide, spiciform and cylindric or occasionally lobed at the base. Glumes 4.4–7.5 mm. long, acute, broadly winged, the wing margin entire; sterile floret 1, subulate, 0.2–2.2 mm. long, pubescent (sometimes with a short second floret up to 0.5 mm. long); fertile floret lanceolate, 3.1–4.6 mm. long, light brown, densely pubescent.
Range
DISTR. Cultivated in East Africa (but see hybrid) native to the Mediterranean region, but widely introduced elsewhere
Distribution
KENYA Near Naivasha, 12 Sept. 1952, Ray in Bogdan 3607! (cult.)KENYA Kiambu District Muguga Grass Plot, 18 Jan. 1953, Verdcourt 905! (cult.)
Notes
P. aquatica is based on two specimens—Hasselquist’s Egyptian plant, which is the same as P. tuberosa, and an Italian plant illustrated by Barrelier (1714), which is probably P. tuberosa. Its identity is therefore clear, although it has commonly been treated as a synonym of P. caerulescens Desf.  The species has been cultivated as a forage grass in many parts of the world.

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