Phalaris carolinianaWalter

Carolina canarygrass

WFO wfo-0000889671 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Phalaris caroliniana, photographed by saltyhiker
fig. a saltyhiker, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-08 / obs. 204766891
Phalaris caroliniana, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. b Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 192554075
Phalaris caroliniana, photographed by Catherine C. Galley
fig. c Catherine C. Galley, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 127350591
Phalaris caroliniana, photographed by Chris Hughes
fig. d Chris Hughes, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 123479707
Phalaris caroliniana, photographed by Sam Kieschnick
fig. e Sam Kieschnick, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 3574057
Phalaris caroliniana, photographed by Sam Kieschnick
fig. f Sam Kieschnick, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 1437375
Phalaris caroliniana, photographed by Sam Kieschnick
fig. g Sam Kieschnick, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 74181563
Phalaris caroliniana, photographed by IDClaire
fig. h IDClaire, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 71025664

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 27 botanical countries

Regions where Phalaris caroliniana is native: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mexican Pacific Is., Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia AlabamaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMarylandMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMississippiMissouriNevadaNew MexicoNorth CarolinaOhioOklahomaOregonSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasVirginia Delaware
Native distribution of Phalaris caroliniana, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
California CAL
Colorado COL
Delaware DEL
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maryland MRY
Mexican Pacific Is. MXI
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Nevada NEV
New Mexico NWM
North Carolina NCA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Oregon ORE
South Carolina SCA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Virginia VRG

Not drawn on the map: Mexican Pacific Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 10 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Phalaris americana Elliott
  • Phalaris angusta Schltdl.
  • Phalaris intermedia Bosc ex Poir.
  • Phalaris intermedia var. angustata Beal
  • Phalaris intermedia var. microstachya (DC.) Vasey
  • Phalaris intermedia var. microstachya (DC.) Vasey ex L.H.Dewey
  • Phalaris macrostachya D.Dietr.
  • Phalaris microstachya DC.
  • Phalaris occidentalis Nutt.
  • Phalaris trivialis Trin.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.