Canary Grasses

Family Gramineae: Poaceae (Grass Family) Following a comprehensive revision of the genus Phalaris, a total of twenty-two species is now accepted. The greatest number of species (eleven) are found in the Mediterranean region, where they are part of the indigenous flora. Four species are native to the American Southwest (Baldini 1995). Like Phalaris arundinacea, many species exhibit considerable variability. The various species appear to have different chemotypes and chemical races. For this reason, experimenting with unknown types of Phalaris without previously analyzing their constituents can be extremely dangerous. Many grasses contain gramine, a very toxic alkaloid. Phalaris aquatica 1. [syn. Phalaris bulbosa auct. non. 1., Phalaris commutata Roem. et Schult., Phalaris nodosa Murray, Phalaris tuberosa 1.]water canary grass Originally from the Mediterranean region, this species is now found throughout the world. Phalaris aquatica is very common in Australia, where it is despised in sheep pastures as a poisonous grass (McBarron 1991, 17). This species is thought to contain the highest concentrations of N,N,-DMT in the genus (Baxter and Slaytor 1972; Mack et al. 1988). Whether the Aborigines used this grass in any way is unknown. There also is no evidence to determine whether the grass was present in Australia before the arrival of the Europeans or whether it was introduced along with the cattle and sheep. There are several varieties (e.g., var. australia, var. uneta), some of which represent chemical races. Some sorts or strains contain primarily N,N,-DMT, while in others 5-MeO-DMT predominates (Mack and Slaytor 1979; Mulvena and Slaytor 1982, 1983). This grass is being increasingly tested for use in developing ayahuasca analogs.

Phalaris spp.-cane canary grass Ancient Egyptian graves have yielded grave garlands into which pieces or entire stalks (including panicles) of Phalaris species were worked (Germer 1985, 219*). It is possible that psychoactive tryptamines may be present in a number of Phalaris species. Literature See also Phalaris arundinacea and ayahuasca analogs. Anonymous. 1995. Phalaris special. Eleusis 49-51. Baldini, Riccardo M. 1993. The genus Phalaris L. (Gramineae) in Italy. Webbia 47:1-53. ---. 1995. Revision of the genus Phalaris L. (Gramineae). Webbia 49:265-329. Baxter, C., and M. Slaytor. 1972. Biosynthesis and turnover of N,N-dimethyltryptamine and 5methoxy- N,N-dimethyltryptamine in Phalaris tuberosa. Phytochemistry 11:2767-73. Mack, J. P. G., et al. 1988. N,N-dimethyltryptamine production in Phalaris aquatica seedlings: A mathematical model for its synthesis. Plant Physiology 88:315-20. Mack, J. P. G., and M. Slaytor. 1979. Indolethylamine N-methyltransferase of Phalaris tuberosa. Phytochemistry 18:1921-25. McBarron, E. J. 1991. Poisonous plants. Melbourne, Sydney, and London: Inkata Press. Mulvena, D. P., and M. Slaytor. 1982. Separation of tryptophan derivatives in Phalaris aquatica by thin layer chromatography. Journal of Chromatography 245:155-57. ---.1983. N-methyltransferase activities in Phalaris aquatica. Phytochemistry 22 (1): 47-48.