I found this growing in the backyard.... about an acre of it!
It looks like Phalaris brachystachys, and it is native here so I high hopes

what do you think?

from what i have seen of brachystachy..that COULD be it...its narrow like brachy...uhmmm what do the seed pods look like

that would be the easiest way to tell...id be able to be more help if i saw that

I believe I may have to go on a grass hunt with my camera soon. It's a little swampy around where I live so there are good long grasses all over the place. Though they all look the same to me.

Does anyone have any good advice for IDing Phalaris species?

The more research I do on local grasses the more I believe it is brachys. It's really the only red grass I can see that grows wild in the area. It looks exactly like the pictures I've seen as well. I'll see if I can find a seed pod to photograph. Most of the pods growing right now are from a yellow grass, the red is only about 6 inches right now.

I know one way of finding out
time for my friend to get out the crock pot and/or soxhlet.

Found a great source of pics.
Not so sure anymore if what I found is in fact brachys. Mine is red and these pics dont look so red. They typically flower in May/June around here, mine had no flowers.

http://luirig.altervista...alaris_brachystachys.htm

I'm quite positive that is NOT a phalaris species, which has a much larger diameter seed cone..brachystachys has a wide, tubular and short seed cone..arundinacea and aquatica have very sommilar cones b that are quite a bit longer. plus none of the phalaris grasses have the long 'hairs' comming out of the tips of the seed cones like this one does.your link shows some very good closeups of the pods...I'd say your best bet is to match these with the pics..get as much details as you can from the botanical description/ the lenghts of the seedpods, the striations on the seed covers, shape of the seeds, hight of the grass, location..etc...this grass is prett common on the west coast..particularly in california..arundinacea is as common as almost any other kind of grass but wild forms usually don't have very much alcaloids.

I would suggest looking up pictures or drawings of the grass your looking for..they have pretty distinctive seed cones that are the easiest way to identify them by...usually grow in irrigation ditches, sides of ponds/creeks or other sources of water...where do you live???

there are alot of species of grasses that have red striations..the picture you posted looks alot like a wild rye or rice to me...good luck man!! keep it up and the grass will find you!! it's some pretty magical/pwerfull creature for "simple grass"! heheh mabey the grass that grows on "god's" lawn...whic you might agree with after sampling a bit in a ayahuasca brew!! first time I did this I used an ounce of the dried grass and spent at lest an hour in the fetal position feeling like I had my fingers in a light socket/my life flashing before my eyes/waves of energy rippleing through my body with almost TOO MUCH intensity...definetly a worth while pursuit!!

The seed pod in the pic was actually from a different green grass that was next to it. The grass in question had no pods yet. I'm loosing faith it was a brachys as well

I do live in Cali so I will find it. From what I've read it doesn't flower here until may. Have any good pics or pointers on how to tell a young brachys?