FALAROUS SEED

[gouldianpaul]

Hi All,

Can any of the seed experts on this forum help me with understanding the nutritional make up of falarous seed (hope I spelt it right). My understanding is it is a hybrid of the canary seed. It is much smaller than canary seed. Does it have a similar protein, carb, etc make up to plane canary seed.

My Goulds seem to like it, but I am worried that it may have too much oil content to be giving them too much during the non-breeding season.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards
Paul

[casehulsebosch]

Phalaris

Species include:
Phalaris amethystina Trin.
Phalaris angusta - timothy canarygrass
Phalaris aquatica - bulbous canarygrass, Harding grass, Hardinggrass, =Phalaris tuberosa
Phalaris arundinacea - reed canary grass, reed canarygrass
Phalaris brachystachys - shortspike canarygrass
Phalaris californica - California canarygrass
Phalaris canariensis - annual canarygrass, common canary grass, common canarygrass
Phalaris caroliniana - Carolina canarygrass, "maygrass", see Eastern Agricultural Complex
Phalaris coerulescens - sunolgrass
Phalaris commutata
Phalaris elongata Braun-Blanq.
Phalaris lemmonii - Lemmon's canarygrass
Phalaris minor - canarygrass, littleseed canarygrass
Phalaris paradoxa - hood canarygrass
Phalaris platensis Henrard ex Wacht.
Phalaris truncata Guss. ex Bertol


welke bedoel je?

[murf]

Try google, "phalaris grass", plenty of info there. If that doesn't work out, try phoning the Dept. of Agriculture or they maybe incorporated into Dept of Environment.... Failing that, try some of the seed companies, Stephens in Ballarat is one that I know of.

[gouldianpaul]

Thanks for the replies folks

[mattymeischke]

My understanding is it is a hybrid of the canary seed. It is much smaller than canary seed. Does it have a similar protein, carb, etc make up to plane canary seed.

Hi Paul,
the Phalaris we grow in the paddocks to improve pasture, and which has since naturalised over much of southeastern Australia, is the same species as 'Canary seed', not a hybrid. It is grown for canary seed, mostly in Canada but also in Australia. GregH visited a grower in Australia and posted some photos and an interesting report.

The pasture varieties were developed by CSIRO for fodder value; as pasture it is very high quality, with digestibility of about 80% during the growing phase and energy yields of up to 12MJ/kg DM. The seeds in these varieties are much smaller, and there is much less of the abrasive silica which the plant protects its seed with. These varieties are often known by the name of the cultivar (Sirosa, Sirocco, Holdfast, Australia II).

The birdseed varieties have been selected for large seed, not whole plant fodder value. In consequence, they have much larger seeds, much more of the abrasive silca, and much smaller, fatter heads.

It is an oilier seed than the millets, but less oily than linseed or niger. Crude protein estimates I have seen range from 5 to 25%. The birdseed varieties probably have more oil than the pasture varieties because of the factors these varieties were selected for. The old canary breeders used it as an oily seed.

You and Case are not alone in being a bit confused about which species it is: this link ( http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/impor ... alaris.pdf )from WA Dept of Agriculture has a picture of P. canariensis (canary grass) labelled Phalaris aquatica.

Species include:
Phalaris amethystina Trin.
Phalaris angusta - timothy canarygrass
Phalaris aquatica - bulbous canarygrass, Harding grass, Hardinggrass, =Phalaris tuberosa
Phalaris arundinacea - reed canary grass, reed canarygrass
Phalaris brachystachys - shortspike canarygrass
Phalaris californica - California canarygrass
Phalaris canariensis - annual canarygrass, common canary grass, common canarygrass
Phalaris caroliniana - Carolina canarygrass, "maygrass", see Eastern Agricultural Complex
Phalaris coerulescens - sunolgrass
Phalaris commutata
Phalaris elongata Braun-Blanq.
Phalaris lemmonii - Lemmon's canarygrass
Phalaris minor - canarygrass, littleseed canarygrass
Phalaris paradoxa - hood canarygrass
Phalaris platensis Henrard ex Wacht.
Phalaris truncata Guss. ex Bertol


welke bedoel je? (trans: Which did you mean?)

Hij bedoelde P. canariensis, geloof ik, maar hij waarschilnlijk begrijpt geen Nederlands, dus geen antwoord. (translation: he meant P. canariensis but he probably doesn't understand Dutch, hence no answer).

I use Phalaris as a staple green seed. If you pick it before the tip starts to yellow and dry out the milk is still in the seed and they love it. When it is fresh and full of milkseed it is nutritionally broadly equivalent to sprouted seed. It freezes well, and lasts up to six months frozen.

Incidentally, Phalaris was a dictator (or 'tyrant') in Ancient Sicily. Famously cruel, he leveraged his position as foreman on a big temple-building job to obtain the top job, and was Tyrant of Acragas from 570 to about 555 BC. He had a brass bull built to torture his prisoners. The prisoner would be locked inside the bull and a fire set under it, with incense. The bull's nose had a system of stops and pipes so that the screams of the tortured captive were converted into beautiful music. The first victim of Phalaris' bull was it's creator (Perillos of Athens (very perilous, I hear)); the last victim of the bull was Phalaris himself after he was overthrown by Telemachus. But we digress.....

[gouldianpaul]

Thanks Matty....interesting read.....especially the part about the bull....can think of a few people I would like to use it on

Cheers
Paul