Phalaris minor

Phalaris minor, Littleseed canarygrass,
Hebrew: חפורית קטנה, Arabic: Sha’ir el-far

Scientific name:   Phalaris minor Retz.
Common name:   Little seeded canary grass, small canary grass
Hebrew name:   חפורית קטנה
Arabic name:   Sha’ir el-far
Family:   Gramineae (Poaceae), Grass Family, משפחת הדגניים


Life form:   Annual
Spinescence:   non-
Stems:   to 80cm high
Leaves:   Alternate, to 20cm long, flat, broadly linear, tapering to an apex.
Inflorescence:   A dense oblong to oblong-ovate cylindrical panicle
Flowers:   Green, all spikelets fertile, about 5mm long, glues compressed, withtoothed wings.
Fruits / pods:   A caryopsis with adherent pericarp and a linear hilum.
Flowering Period:   March, April, May, June
Habitat:   Desert, Shrub-steppes
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands,Shrub-steppes, Semi-steppe shrublands, Deserts
Chorotype:   Med – Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Phalaris, Greek, used by Dioscorides for a kind of grass, ribbon grass, canary grass; phalaros “having a patch of white, crested, “phalos” shining, bright, white, a part of the helmet”; Latin phalaris or phaleris, idis for the plant canary-grass.

minor, smaller.

  • The standard author abbreviation Retz. is used to indicate Anders Jahan Retzius (1742 – 1821) , a Swedish chemist, botanist and entomologist.