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bristlegrass, plains bristlegrass, streambed bristlegrass, yellow bristlegrass, yellow foxtail

barbed bristlegrass

Habit Plants perennial; cespitose. Plants annual.
Culms

20-100 cm.

30-100 cm;

nodes glabrous.

Sheaths

compressed, glabrous, margins villous distally;

ligules 1-2.5 mm, ciliate;

blades 8-25 cm long, 2-5 mm wide, flat or folded, scabrous on both surfaces.

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

6-15 cm, tightly spikelike, pale green;

rachises scabrous or villous;

bristles usually solitary, 4-15 mm, ascending.

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

2.2-2.8(3) mm, elliptical.

2-2.3 mm.

Lower glumes

about 1/2 as long as the spikelets, 3-veined;

upper glumes from 3/4 as long as to equaling the florets, 5-veined;

lower lemmas equaling the upper lemmas, 5-veined;

lower paleas 1/2 - 3/4 as long as the upper paleas, lanceolate;

upper lemmas apiculate, finely and transversely rugose;

upper paleas similar.

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

= 54, 68, 72.

= 36.

Setaria leucopila

Setaria verticilliformis

Distribution
from FNA
AR; AZ; CO; FL; NM; OK; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; DC; MD; MO; NJ; NY; PA; WI
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Setaria leucopila grows in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It is the most common of the perennial "Plains bristlegrasses."

(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. 548. 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. faberi, S. grisebachii, S. italica, 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 (Scribn. & Merr.) K. Schum. Dumort.
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