Phalaris arundinacea

Reed Canary Grass Phalaris arundinacea) was grown in liquid culture and exposed to RDX that was metabolized to the potentially toxic 4-nitro-2,4-diazabutanal (Just and Schnoor 2004). This metabolite is also produced from RDX by strains of Rhodococcus sp. and from the homologous octahydro-l,3,5,7-tetranitro-l,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) by Phanerochaete chrysosporium. 

Vymazal, J., Svehla, J., Kropfelova, L., and Chrastny, V., Trace metals in Phragmites australis and Phalaris arundinacea growing in constructed and natural wetlands, Science of the Total Environment, 380 (1-3), 154-162, 2007. 

Phalaris arundinacea (net gossip) 0.060% NN-DMT 5-MeO-DMT PsyChotria spocios (averaged, from Jonathan Ott) 0.200% NN-DMT... 

Grind the plant material to a fine powder. The finer ground the material the better your yields will be. The best technique to pulverize and rupture the cell structure of any plant material is to repeatedly freeze and thaw it over and over again. An example of a plant requiring this treatment is Phalaris arundinacea, a strong and limber grass. Mimosa hostilis root-bark is easily pulverized to a fine powder in a blender, releasing a pink haze. 

In the wetlands of Idaho, the formation of an Fe(III) precipitate (plaque) on the surface of aquatic plant roots (Typha latifolia, cat tail and Phalaris arundinacea, reed canary grass) may provide a means of attenuation and external exclusion of metals and trace elements (Hansel et al, 2002). Iron oxides were predominantly ferrihydrite with lesser amounts of goethite and minor levels of siderite and lepidocrocite. Both spatial and temporal correlations between As and Fe on the root surfaces were observed and arsenic existed as arsenate-iron hydroxide complexes (82%). 

T. Fossen, R. Slimestad and R. Andersen, Anthocyanins from maize, Zea mais, and reed canarygrass, Phalaris arundinacea. J. Agric. Food Chem. 49 (2001) 2318-2321. 

Voles M.pennsylvanicus) suffer renal lesions (interstitial nephritis) when fed extracts of white clover, T. repens. Milder lesions were observed after feeding on reed phalaris Phalaris arundinacea) and timothy Phleum pratense). Many varieties of reed phalaris contain the toxic compoimds gramine and tryptamine (Fig.11.15). In summer and autumn, protein levels in the leaves decrease, fiber content goes up, and secondary compoimds increase in concentration. Therefore, second growth plants have more toxic effects on voles than the spring plants that grow fast and have lower levels of secondary compounds (Bergeron etal, 1987). 

Strontium-90 behaves much hke calcium in the biological environment. In birds, °Sr is expected to occur in bone and in the calcium-rich eggshell. In one case, a positive relation was demonstrated between reactor releases of °Sr to the Columbia River and °Sr concentrations in reed canary grass Phalaris arundinacea) and eggshells of the Canada goose (Branta canadensis moffitti) (Rickard and Price 1990). 

Peroxidase activities were also shown to occur during the bean rust infection process (Mendgen, 1975). In reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L ), peroxidase was identified with the pyrogallol test (Vance and Sherwood, 1976). 

Justicia pectoralis (Acanthaceae), Desmodium prulchellum (Fabaceae), Phalaris arundinacea, P. tuberosa (Poaceae), Virola sp. (Myristicaceae) [resin] Bufo alvarius (Sonoran desert toad) (psychoactive toad)... 

Some recent investigations have applied advanced spectroscopic methods to nondestructively probe the associations between Fe oxides and other metals in Fe plaque with unprecedented spatial resolution. These techniques include x-ray fluorescence microscopy (XRF) and x-ray near-edge spectroscopy (XANES). Hansel et al. (2001) investigated the sequestration of Pb, Mn, and Zn to Fe plaque on the wetland plant Phalaris arundinacea (reed canarygrass) from a mine waste-contaminated site. They found that Pb was concentrated within the Fe plaque. However, extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) data indicated that the Pb was not directly coordinated with the Fe oxides but was probably bound to organic matter in the form of a biofilm. Mn and Zn were also associated with Fe plaque, but chemically they appeared to exist as discrete carbonates. This work on Pb contrasts somewhat with that of Ye et al. (1998), who reported that Pb was not bound significantly to Fe plaque in Typha. 

In another report. Hansel et al. (2002) studied Fe plaque associated with the rhizosphere of Typha latifolia and Phalaris arundinacea from a mine waste-contaminated site that was high in As. For both plants, the Fe and As concentrations associated with roots were approximately 10-fold concentrated on roots relative to their abundances in the bulk soil. XRF revealed that Fe plaque consisted primarily of ferrihydrite but also had appreciable levels of goethite and siderite T. latifolia also had a significant amount of lepidocrocite. Their analysis suggested that As was sequestered fairly homogeneously within the Fe plaque. A XANES analysis indicated that approximately 80% of the As was As(V) and 20% As(III). Blute et al. (2004) reported similar ratios for As(V) and As(III)... 

Phalaris arundinacea (a common grass species) have all been found to contain DMT in various concentrations. There are some indications that this alkaloid may actually be very common - all that is 3cking is some sophisticated chemical analysis of... 

An extremely potent smokable form of DMT can be extracted from the reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea). (Presumably the same holds true for any DMT-containing botanical, dozens of which have now been identified and continue to be discovered.I made this discovery more than a month after the manuscript of this book was completed and sent to the publisher. Therefore I offer this added chapter as something totally new. To the best of my knowledge this information has never been published in a book before, though I make no claim that I am the first person to discover it. 

If we wish to extract the alkaloids present in Phalaris arundinacea, for example, we would first pulverize the grass clippings as much as possible. One technique that helps to rupture the cellular structure of any plant material is to put it in the freezer overnight, remove it the next day, thaw it, put it in the freezer again, then remove and thaw it again. After two or three such cycles it will usually be pretty mushy and easily minced in a blender. In the case of Phalaris grass, which is limber and difficult to pulverize, it should be placed in the blender while still frozen stiff, so that the blender blades can more easily chop it up. 

As well as known 5-oxytryptamine typ>es, Virola species, used in the preparation of intoxicating snuffs, contain 6-methoxy-2-methyl-l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-/5-carboline and 6-methoxy-l,2-dimethyl-l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-)8-carboline. An isomer of this last alkaloid, 6-methoxy-2,9-dimethyl-l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-)8-carboline, has been isolated from Phalaris arundinacea. 

A recent literature review [13] listed 17 wetland plants capable of RDX removal from water, or removal accompanied by RDX incorporation into plant biomass. The emergent wetland plant Phalaris arundinacea (reed canary grass) and the submerged wetland plant Elodea canadensis were particularly suitable for RDX bioremediation using constructed wetlands in terms of RDX removal efficiency and relative persistence [39], Studies with the model aquatic plant M. aquaticum demonstrated that RDX removal from water was a first-order rate process, similar to TNT removal [14,43], However, the first-order rate constants for RDX removal were 3.0 x 10-5 L g 1 FW h 1 versus 2.2 x 10 3 L g 1 FW h 1 for TNT removal at the same conditions [14],... 

Tanda S. Mycological studies on the ergot of Japan (IX), distinct variety of C. purpurea Tul. on Phalaris arundinaceae L. and P. arundinacea var. picta L. J Agric Sci Tokyo Nogyo Daigaku 24 79-95, 1980. 

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