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Chinese foxtail, Chinese millet, foxtail, giant bristlegrass, giant foxtail, Japanese bristlegrass, setaire géante

barbed bristlegrass

Habit Plants annual. Plants annual.
Culms

50-200 cm.

30-100 cm;

nodes glabrous.

Sheaths

glabrous, fringed with white hairs;

ligules about 2 mm;

blades 15-30 cm long, 10-20 mm wide, usually with soft hairs on the adaxial surface.

mostly glabrous, margins ciliate distally;

ligules 1-2 mm, of hairs;

blades 5-15 mm wide, flat, abaxial surfaces scabrous, adaxial surfaces sparsely villous.

Panicles

6-20 cm, densely spicate, arching and drooping from near the base;

rachises densely villous;

bristles (1)3(6), about 10 mm.

5-15 cm, tapering to the apices, branches verticillate;

rachises antrorsely rough hispid, without villous hairs;

bristles solitary, 4-7 mm, antrorsely or retrorsely scabrous.

Spikelets

2.5-3 mm.

2-2.3 mm.

Lower glumes

about 1 mm, acute, 3-veined;

upper glumes about 2.2 mm, obtuse, 5-veined;

lower lemmas about 2.8 mm, obtuse;

lower paleas about 2/3 as long as the lower lemmas;

upper lemmas pale, finely and distinctly transversely rugose;

upper paleas similar to the upper lemmas.

about 1/3 as long as the spikelets, obtuse, 1(3)-veined;

upper glumes nearly as long as the spikelets;

lower paleas about 1/2 as long as the spikelets, broad;

upper lemmas finely and transversely rugose;

upper paleas similar to the upper lemmas.

2n

= 36.

= 36.

Setaria faberi

Setaria verticilliformis

Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; ON; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; DC; MD; MO; NJ; NY; PA; WI
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Setaria faberi spread rapidly throughout the North American corn belt after being accidentally introduced from China in the 1920s. It has become a major nuisance in corn and bean fields of the midwestern United States.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Setaria verticilliformis is a European adventive that has been found at scattered, mostly urban, locations in the United States.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 556. FNA vol. 25, p. 554.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Setaria > subg. Setaria Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Setaria > subg. Setaria
Sibling taxa
S. adhaerans, S. arizonica, S. barbata, S. chapmanii, S. corrugata, S. grisebachii, S. italica, S. leucopila, S. liebmannii, S. macrosperma, S. macrostachya, S. magna, S. megaphylla, S. palmifolia, S. parviflora, S. pumila, S. rariflora, S. reverchonii, S. scheelei, S. setosa, S. sphacelata, S. texana, S. verticillata, S. verticilliformis, S. villosissima, S. viridis
S. adhaerans, S. arizonica, S. barbata, S. chapmanii, S. corrugata, S. faberi, S. grisebachii, S. italica, S. leucopila, S. liebmannii, S. macrosperma, S. macrostachya, S. magna, S. megaphylla, S. palmifolia, S. parviflora, S. pumila, S. rariflora, S. reverchonii, S. scheelei, S. setosa, S. sphacelata, S. texana, S. verticillata, S. villosissima, S. viridis
Synonyms S. verticillata var. ambigua
Name authority R.A.W. Herrm. Dumort.
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