If you use the x operator, the left argument is evaluated only once, and then copied. Watch:

my $c = 0;
sub f {print ++ $c, "\n";}
my @f = (f) x 3;
__END__
1
[download]

f is called just once, not three times.

So, in your case, you end up with three references to the same anon array.

Abigail