Phalaris Arundinacea L.

Phalaris Arundinacea L.
Reed Canary Grass

Phalaris Arundinacea L.
Reed Canary Grass

Synonyms

Baldingera arundinacea L.

Phalaroides arundinacea L.

Typhoides arundinacea L.

Folk Names

Bentgrass, canarygrass, canary grass, glanzgras, militz, phalaridos, randgras, reed canarygrass, reed canary grass, reed grass, rohrglanzgras.

The perennial grass develops gray-green stalks that can grow up to 2 meters in height and can branch. e long, wide leaves have rough edges and are attached to the stalks. e panicle can take on a light green or red-violet hue. e spikelets bear a single ower. e owering period is from June to August. Large specimens can be confused with small forms of Phragmites australis.

Appearance

The grass is found in Eurasia, North Africa, and North America and Europe. ick stands grow on the banks of rivers and lakes and in wet meadows, o en in reed elds and phragmitetea)

Distribution

The grass can be grown from seed or propagated by root cuttings (Appleseed 1995). e seeds need only be broadcast onto the ground. e grass prefers nutrient-rich, acid soils and must be near water or watered frequently.

Cultivation

Reed canary grass was known even in ancient times. It cannot be determined whether this or another species (e.g., Phalaris aquatica L. or Phalaris canariensis L.) is the phalaridos described by Dioscorides. A number of grasses appear in herbals from the early modern period. e fact that Phalaris is psychoactive was discovered during phytochemical studies of the grasses for agricultural purposes. For several years, closet shamans have been experimenting with possibilities for using this and other grasses for psychoactive purposes. (cf. Arundo Donax, Phalaris spp., Phragmites australis).

History

no medicinal use.

Medicinal Use

To date, we know of no traditional use of Phalaris arundinacea as a psychoactive substance. However, the Roman poet Ovid (43 B.C.E.-17 C.E.) described a shamanic transformation that was induced by (an unfortunately unidentied) “grass.” In the story of Glaucus, a fisher from Anthedon in Boeotia, Glaucus himself described his wondrous metamorphosis into a sea god:

I sought the cause if any God had brought this same abowt,
Or else sum jewce of herb. And as I so did musing stand,
What herb (quoth I) hath such a powre? And gathering with my hand

The grasse, I bote it with my toothe. My throte had scarcely yit

Well swallowed downe the uncouth jewce, when like an agew fit
I felt myne inwards soodeinly to shake, and with the same,
A love of other nature in my brest with violence came.
And long I could it not resist, but sayd: Deere land,adeew,
For never shall I haunt thee more. And with that woord I threw

My bodye in the sea. e Goddes thereof receyving mee,

Vouchsaved in theyr order mee installed for too bee,

Desyring old Oceanus and etis for theyr sake,
The rest of my mortalitie away from mee to take.
They hallowed mee, and having sayd nyne tymes the holy ryme

That purgeth all prophanednesse, they charged mee that tyme
To put my brestbulk underneathe a hunred streames. Anon
The brookes from sundry coastes and all the Seas did ryde uppon My head.

From whence as soone as I returned, by and by
I felt my self farre otherwyse through all my limbes, than I
Had beene before. And in my mynd I was anotherman.
Thus farre of all that mee befell make just report I can.
Thus farre I beare in mynd. e rest my mynd perceyved not.

Then first of all this hory greene gray grisild beard I got,
And this same bush of heare which all along the seas I sweepe,

And theis same myghty shoulders, and theis grayish armes, and feete

Confounded into finned fish.

Perhaps the “grass” was Phalaris arundinacea, and a preparation was known in ancient times that would have been suitable in rituals for animal transformation.

Ritual Use

Leaves

Psychoactve Material

Psychoactive Material

The entire grass contains indole alkaloids, the composition of which can vary greatly depending upon race, strain, location, time of collection, etcetera...
N,N-DMT, MMT, and 5-MeO-DMT are usually present. The grass also can have high concentrations of gramine, a very toxic alkaloid.

Constituents

While the dried grass can be smoked, smoking almost never yields any effects. An extract obtained from the leaves is more suitable for smoking. It can be produced in the following manner: the dried leaves are finely chopped or powdered and, preferably, freeze-dried (or frozen and unfrozen several times). The material prepared in this fashion is placed in a blender with water and minced into a mush that is made acidic by the addition of an acid (e.g., acetic acid) and lightly simmered. The material is then boiled down until a tarlike mass remains. is mass can then be dissolved in alcohol (or a mixture of ethanol and water). The resulting solution is then impregnated into material suitable for smoking (e.g., damiana herbage; cf. Turnera di usa). After being dried, the preparation should be quite potent. Reed canary grass is increasingly being used to produce ayahuasca analogs. To date, however, there are very few detailed reports about optimal dosages, and de nitive information about the races or strains of the grass to use is also lacking.

A combination of 125 mg of an extract of Peganum harmala seeds and 50 mg of Phalaris extract produced unequivocal psychedelic effects “accompanied by strong waves of nausea”. A combination of 60 g fresh weight of Phalaris and 3 g of Peganum harmala produced strong toxic effects.

Preparation and Dosage

Smoking a suitable preparation can produce effects like those produced by M,JV-DMT. While some of the ayahuasca analogs that have been tested to date have indeed yielded ayahuasca-like effects, many of the reports describe unpleasant experiences.

Effects

Source: Christian Rätsch: The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants