Canarygrass, Phalaris

Fossen, T., Slimestad, R., and Andersen, O.M., Anthocyanins from maize Zea mays) and reed canarygrass (Phalaris amndinaceae), J. Agric. Food Chem., 49, 2318, 2001. 

Except direct use of allelopathic crops as cover crops, smother crops, and intercrops, applications of allelopathy for weed control include the use of allelopathic residues as an herbicide agent, e.g., pellets flours, water extracts, etc. The most common example of crop residue utilization is application of straw on the soil surface (mulching), e.g., rice straw inhibited germination of field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis L.), winter wild oat (Avena ludoviciana Durieu), and little-seed canarygrass (Phalaris minor Retz.) (Lee et al. 1991 Tamak et al. 1994 Young et al. 1989). 

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. 

There are many examples which show that besides pyrrolizidine and quinolizidine alkaloids other classes of alkaloids are also quite toxic to herbivores and insects. In North America, reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea) is important livestock forage oti wet and poorly drained soils. It is often unpalatable and... 

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