Reed Canary Grass (RCG) (Phalaris arundinacea L) is a naturally-growing, perennial rhizome grass species which can be found in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. It has agricultural uses as a fodder crop. Recently, RCG has been considered as an industrial crop for bioenergy production, and as a source of short fiber for paper production. Scientists from Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Sweden) examined the characteristics of "delayed-harvested reed canary grass", in order to evaluate its potential as a feedstock for ethanol production. The "delayed harvesting system for non-food production", according to the researchers, was reported to have been developed in Sweden in the 1980s. It involves delaying the harvest to a time when dry biomass could be harvested in the field. In addition to the benefit of lessening fertilization requirements of the soil (due to nutrient translocation from leaves/stems to root system), it has been reported to have beneficial effects to enhance its potential as a raw material for bioenery and short-fiber source in paper production. The delayed harvested RCG was found to have (1) decreased levels of chlorine, sulfur and alkali metals, and (2) higher pulp yields during paper making, The researchers found that "glucose, xylose and arabinose were the main carbohydrate components found in delayed harvested RCG", and the high yield of neutral carbohydrates in the delayed-harvested crop indicates its potential as a feedstock for bioethanol production. The full paper is published in the journal, Biomass and Bioenergy (URL above).