Seems very similar to P. Arundinacea. If you could snap a picture of the rhizome that would help tremendously.
For help with similar species to Phalaris, familiarize yourself with some of these plants:
Elymus Cinereus and other Elymus/Leymus spp.(Rye)
Alopecurus Pratensis(Meadow Foxtail, might be confused for P. Aquatica)
A. Geniculatus(water foxtail)
A. Aequalis(short awned foxtail)
Phleum Pratense(timothy grass)
Dactylis Glomerata
Bromus Inermis(and other Bromus spp. which haven't flowered but look similar to Phalaris)
Anthoxanthum Odoratum(Sweet Vernal Grass)
Festuca Arundinacea(contains harmalas)
Calamagrostis Canadensis(Blue Joint Grass)
Glyceria Occidentalis(Western Manna)
Carex spp.(some contain Harmalas)
Hordeum Vulgare, H. Brachyantherum, and other Hordeum spp.
Achnatherum spp.
Beckmannia spp.
Agrostis spp.(A. Capillaris/A. Tenuis)
Phragmites spp.
Holcus Lanatus
A quick google search for all these and comparing them with P. Arundinacea would be great.
If you're not sure in early spring, observe them flowering/seeding in summer and do a harvest in late fall when alks are back up.
Gramine is not toxic to humans i don't care what any government funded CSIRO paper says.
And you are correct, naphtha pulls barely any if any.
Even then a little bit of gramine wouldn't do anything.
I think what bothers people in their extracts are the phenethylamines like Hordenine or unknown 5-Methoxy derivatives like 5-MeO-NMT. Hordenine is concentrated highest in stems, so only pick top leaves.
So if you're really worried about toxicity, bring a dog with you and share some grass with them. If they won't eat any then you shouldn't. My pup usually goes for new growths and won't touch the 4-5' plants that are flowering right now.
will post others when they pop into my mind.
::
S
Since compounds like 5-Meo-NMT have not had James Orok or Terence McKenna bedazzled in a book promoting the beauty of the experience, "psychonauts" who are thrown into an unfamiliar physiological space assume that there is "toxicity" at play. Maybe if the "set/setting" for these new compounds were created, they would be easier to handle for the populace that dare taste.
Though gramine most likely does not pose any serious risk with human ingestion/smoking,
there derivatives are even less researched so the same cannot be said about them.
Having ingested various species of Phalaris multiple times and smoked countless extracts, honestly cannot see anything toxic about this grass. BE SMART. Don't pick an obviously "bad vibe" batch because it will fling you where your ego can't hold its ground.
Start low and work your way up. I have found P. Arundinacea to be orally active on its own so careful with MAOI dosage if ever working with this teacher.
It is not a DMT-experience. It is a Phalaris experience.
Basing with Calcium Hydroxide, Defats with Xylene, Pull with Acetone gets a waxy but potent extract for me that tastes floral when smoked. Creek Dreams.
There is a mighty frog lurking behind those bushes.