Alopecurus
Alopecurus aequalis
foxtail, meadow-foxtail
little foxtail, little meadow-foxtail, orange foxtail, short-awn foxtail, short-awn meadow-foxtail, Sonoma alopecurus
5-110 cm, clumped or solitary, erect or decumbent, occasionally cormlike at the base;
nodes glabrous.
9-75 cm, erect or decumbent.
inserted mostly on the lower 1/2 of the culms;
sheaths open, upper sheaths sometimes inflated;
auricles absent;
ligules 0.6-6.5 mm, truncate to acute, membranous, puberulent or glabrous, entire to lacerate;
blades 0.7-12 mm wide, flat or involute, glabrous or scabrous, blades of uppermost leaves sometimes short or absent.
1-9 cm long, 3-9 mm wide.
terminal panicles, spikelike, capitate to cylindrical;
branches usually shorter than 5 mm, lower branches sometimes to 2 cm;
disarticulation below the glumes.
1.8-7 mm, pedicellate, strongly laterally compressed, oval in outline, with 1 floret;
rachillas not prolonged beyond the base of the floret.
equaling or exceeding the florets, membranous or coriaceous, free or connate in at least the lower 1/2, narrowing from above midlength, 3-veined, keeled, keels ciliate, at least basally, apices obtuse to acute or shortly awned;
calluses blunt, glabrous;
lemmas membranous, margins often connate in the lower 1/2, keeled, indistinctly 3-5-veined, apices truncate to acute, awned dorsally from just above the base to about midlength, geniculate or straight;
paleas absent or greatly reduced;
lodicules absent;
anthers 3, 0.3-4.1 mm;
ovaries glabrous;
styles fused, with 2 branches.
1.8-3.7 mm, connate near the base, membranous, pubescent on the sides, keels not winged, ciliate, apices obtuse, sometimes erose, pale green, occasionally purplish;
lemmas 1.5-2.5(3.5) mm, connate in the lower 1/3-1/2, glabrous, apices obtuse, awns 0.7-3 mm, straight, exceeding the lemmas by 0-2.5 mm;
anthers 0.5-1.2 mm, usually pale to deep yellow or orange, rarely purple.
shorter than the lemmas, concealed at maturity, glabrous;
hila short, x = 7.
1-1.8 mm.
2-6.5 mm, obtuse;
blades 2-10 cm long, 1-5(8) mm wide;
upper sheaths not inflated.
= 14, 28.
Alopecurus
Alopecurus aequalis
Alopecurus is a genus of 36 species that grow primarily in open, mesic habitats, and are native to the northern temperate zone and South America. Four species are native to the Flora region, four were introduced and have become established, and two were introduced and are not known to persist. Some species, including some native to the Flora region, have been introduced as pasture grasses outside of their native ranges. Of these, only A. pratensis has become widely naturalized.
Some species of Alopecurus can appear similar to Phleum, which has truncate glumes that are abruptly awned or mucronate, lemmas without awns or keels, and well-developed paleas; Alopecurus has glumes that are obtuse to acute and gradually awned or unawned, lemmas with both awns and keels, and paleas that are absent or greatly reduced.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Alopecurus aequalis is native to temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere. It generally grows in wet meadows, forest openings, shores, springs, and along streams, as well as in ditches, along roadsides, and in other disturbed sites, from sea level to subalpine elevations.
Alopecurus aequalis is the most widespread and variable species of Alopecurus in the Flora region. Despite its variability, the only phenotype meriting formal recognition is that found in the low marshes of Marin and Sonoma counties, California. Some high elevation plants of the Sierra Nevada have unusually long awns (exserted by up to 1.5 mm) and anthocyanic spikelets but, like the semi-aquatic ecotype A. aequalis var. natans (Wahlenb.) Fernald, they do not warrant taxonomic recognition.
Alopecurus xhaussknechtianus Asch. & Graebn. is a hybrid between A. aequalis and A. geniculatus, which occurs fairly frequently in areas of sympatry, particularly in drier midcontinental areas from Alberta to Saskatchewan, south to Arizona and New Mexico. The hybrids are sterile and apparently have 2n = 14.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Glume keels winged; glumes glabrous, pubescent over the veins. | → 2 |
2. Glumes 4.5-7.5 mm long, connate in the lower 1/2, the apices acute, convergent to parallel; lemma apices acute | A. myosuroides |
2. Glumes 3-4.5 mm long, connate in the lower 1/2 - 4/5, the apices obtuse, mucronate, divergent; lemma apices truncate | A. creticus |
1. Glume keels not winged; glumes usually sparsely to densely pubescent, sometimes glabrous. | → 3 |
3. Plants annual, without rhizomes, not rooting at the lower nodes; blades 1-16 cm long, 0.9-4 mm wide; culms 5-50 cm tall. | → 4 |
4. Glumes 5-6.4 mm long, coriaceous and dilated in the lower 1/2; glume and lemma apices acute to acuminate; anthers about 3 mm long | A. rendlei |
4. Glumes 2.1-5 mm long, membranous, not dilated below; glume and lemma apices obtuse; anthers 0.3-1.8 mm long. | → 5 |
5. Upper sheaths conspicuously inflated; glumes 3-5 mm long; lemmas 3-5 mm long, awns exceeding the lemmas by 3-6 mm; panicles 5.5-13 mm wide, excluding the awns | A. saccatus |
5. Upper sheaths not or only slightly inflated; glumes 2.1-3.1 mm long; lemmas 1.9-2.7 mm long, awns exceeding the lemmas by 1.6-4 mm; panicles 3-6 mm wide, excluding the awns | A. carolinianus |
3. Plants perennial, often rhizomatous, sometimes rooting at the lower nodes; blades 2-40 cm long, 1-12 mm wide; culms 5-110 cm tall. | → 6 |
6. Glumes 1.8-3.7 mm long, the apices obtuse; anthers 0.5-2.2 mm long. | → 7 |
7. Awns geniculate, exceeding the lemmas by 1.2-4 mm; anthers (0.9)1.4-2.2 mm long | A. geniculates |
7. Awns straight, not exceeding the lemmas or exceeding them by less than 2.5 mm; anthers 0.5-1.2 mm long | A. aequalis |
6. Glumes 3-6 mm long, the apices acute; anthers 2-4 mm long. | → 8 |
8. Glume margins connate in the lower 1/8; glumes densely pilose throughout | A. magellanicus |
8. Glume margins connate in the lower 1/5 – 1/3; glumes with long hairs mainly restricted to the veins. | → 9 |
9. Lemma apices acute; glume apices parallel or convergent | A. pratensis |
9. Lemma apices obtuse to truncate; glume apices divergent | A. arundinaceus |
1. Panicles 3-6 mm wide; glumes 1.8-3 mm long; awns not exceeding the lemmas or exceeding them by less than 1 mm; anthers 0.5-0.9 mm long | var. aequalis |
1. Panicles 4—9 mm wide; glumes to 3.7 mm long; awns exceeding the lemmas by 1-2.5 mm; anthers 1-1.2 mm long | var. sonotnensis |
- Local floras:
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
LA Plants, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
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- Wikipedia
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- Local floras:
BC, CA, OR, WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW,
Go Botany, IL Wildflowers, KS Wildflowers, MD Biodiversity, MI Flora, MN Wildflowers, MO Plants, PNW Herbaria - WildflowerSearch
- iNaturalist (observations)
- USDA Plants Database
- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
