Alopecurus magellanicus
Alopecurus rendlei
alpine foxtail, alpine meadow-foxtail, boreal foxtail, foxtail, vulpin alpin, vulpin boreale
Rendle's Meadow foxtail
(6)10-80 cm, erect or decumbent.
8-30(40) cm, erect or decumbent.
1-5 cm long, 8-14 mm wide.
1-3.2 cm long, 5-11 mm wide.
3-5 mm, connate in the lower 1/8, membranous, densely pilose throughout, keels not winged, ciliate, apices acute and parallel;
lemmas 2.5-4.5 mm, connate in the lower 1/2 - 2/3, glabrous proximally, finely pubescent distally, apices usually obtuse, occasionally truncate, awns 2-6(8) mm, geniculate, exceeding the lemmas by 0-5 mm;
anthers 2.3-3 mm, yellow.
5-6.4 mm, connate in the lower 1/4-1/3, dilated and coriaceous in the lower 1/2, pilose or glabrous in the lower 1/2, indurate and constricted above the middle, keels not winged, ciliate on all veins, apices acute, slightly divergent;
lemmas 5.6-6.4 mm, connate basally, glabrous or puberulent distally, apices coriaceous, acuminate, awns 6.5-18 mm, geniculate, exceeding the lemmas by 0.8-7.2 mm;
anthers about 3 mm.
0.7-2 mm.
1-2 mm, truncate;
blades 4-22 cm long, 2.5-7 mm wide;
upper sheaths inflated.
0.6-3 mm, obtuse;
blades 1-16 cm long, 1-3 mm wide;
upper sheaths inflated.
3.5-4.5 mm.
= 98, 100, 105, 112, 117, 119, ca. 120.
= 14.
Alopecurus magellanicus
Alopecurus rendlei
Alopecurus magellanicus has an arctic-alpine to subalpine circumpolar distribution, but it has not been found in Scandinavia or Iceland. It grows primarily in wet soils in tundra, meadows, along streams, shorelines, gravelbars, and floodplains, and occasionally in somewhat drier forest openings, in fine or silty to stony soils or moss. It is sometimes co-dominant with Dupontia fisheri in the arctic and subarctic portion of its range. The anthocyanic tint of the plant as a whole greatly increases to the north.
In the past, this species has been called Alopecurus alpinus, the name being attributed to Smith. Dogan (1999) pointed out that the name had first been used by Villars for a different species, which meant that this species had to have another name; Dogan used A. borealis Trin., listing A. magellanicus as a synonym but, because A. magellanicus was published first, it has priority and is therefore the correct name.
The morphological variability in Alopecurus magellanicus has prompted recognition of several segregate taxa, A. stejnegeri Vasey and A. occidentalis Scribn. & Tweedy being two of the more conspicuous extremes. The former are small plants occurring on enriched sites in the arctic, usually around seabird or seal colonies where high nutrient levels produce lush vegetative growth; the latter refers to tall-stemmed plants found in the Rocky Mountains. Because such plants are simply extremes in a continuum of variation, they do not merit taxonomic recognition.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Alopecurus rendlei is native to wet meadows, and adventive in roadsides and waste places, in southern and western Europe. It was found growing on ballast in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1880; it has not been collected in North America since then.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
