''Alopecurus'', or foxtail grass, is a common and widespread

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of plants in the

grass family Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and ...

. It is common across temperate and subtropical parts of

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelag ...

, northern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and the Americas, as well as naturalized in Australia and on various islands. Foxtails can be

annual Annual may refer to: * Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook **Literary annual * Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

. They grow in tufts. They have flat leaves and blunt ligules (a small flap at the junction of leaf and stem). Their inflorescence is a dense

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is ...

(a branching head without terminal

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

) with 1-flowered spikelets. A few, particularly ''A. myosuroides'', are considered

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

s, others are very decorative and are used in bouquets of dried flowers. ; Species * ''

Alopecurus aequalis ''Alopecurus aequalis'' is a common species of grass known as shortawn foxtail or orange foxtail. It is native to much of the temperate Northern Hemisphere from Eurasia to North America. It is most commonly found in areas near fresh water, such ...

'' – Orange foxtail, shortawn foxtail – Eurasia, Americas * ''

Alopecurus albovii ''Alopecurus'', or foxtail grass, is a common and widespread genus of plants in the grass family. It is common across temperate and subtropical parts of Eurasia, northern Africa, and the Americas, as well as naturalized in Australia and on var ...

'' – Caucasus * '' Alopecurus anatolicus'' – eastern Turkey * '' Alopecurus apiatus'' – Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran * ''

Alopecurus arundinaceus ''Alopecurus arundinaceus'', the creeping meadow foxtail or creeping foxtail, is a rhizomatous perennial species in the Grass family (Poaceae). Native to Eurasia and northern Africa, and widely introduced elsewhere, this sod forming grass is us ...

'' – Reed foxtail, creeping foxtail, creeping meadow foxtail – Eurasia, North Africa * '' Alopecurus aucheri'' – Caucasus, Turkey, Iran * '' Alopecurus baptarrhenius'' – Ethiopia * '' Alopecurus bonariensis'' – Argentina, Uruguay * '' Alopecurus borii'' – Turkmenistan * '' Alopecurus bornmuelleri'' – Palestine * '' Alopecurus brachystachus'' – Russia, China, Mongolia * '' Alopecurus bulbosus'' – Bulbous foxtail – Mediterranean, western Europe * '' Alopecurus carolinianus'' – tufted meadow foxtail – US, western Canada * '' Alopecurus creticus'' – Greece, Turkey, Balkans * '' Alopecurus dasyanthus'' – Caucasus, Iran * '' Alopecurus davisii'' –

Samos Island Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...

in Greece * ''

Alopecurus geniculatus ''Alopecurus geniculatus'' is a species of grass known by the common name water foxtail or marsh foxtail. It is native to much of Eurasia and introduced into North America, South America, and Australia. It grows in moist areas. ''Alopecurus geni ...

'' – Bent foxtail, marsh meadow foxtail – Algeria, Eurasia * '' Alopecurus gerardii'' – Mediterranean * '' Alopecurus glacialis'' – Caucasus, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan * ''

Alopecurus × haussknechtianus ''Alopecurus'', or foxtail grass, is a common and widespread genus of plants in the grass family. It is common across temperate and subtropical parts of Eurasia, northern Africa, and the Americas, as well as naturalized in Australia and on vari ...

'' – central + northwestern Europe * '' Alopecurus heliochloides'' – Chile * '' Alopecurus himalaicus'' – Himalayas, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Central Asia,

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

* '' Alopecurus hitchcockii'' – Peru, Bolivia, Jujuy * '' Alopecurus japonicus'' – China, Japan, Korea * '' Alopecurus laguroides'' – Caucasus, Turkey * '' Alopecurus lanatus'' – Turkey * '' Alopecurus longiaristatus'' –

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...

Primorye Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of the ...

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of th ...

* '' Alopecurus magellanicus'' – northern Eurasia, North + South America, Falkland Is,

South Georgia South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east ...

* '' Alopecurus × marssonii'' – Ukraine * '' Alopecurus mucronatus'' – Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan * ''

Alopecurus myosuroides ''Alopecurus myosuroides'' is an annual grass, native to Eurasia, found in moist meadows, deciduous forests, and on cultivated and waste land. It is also known as slender meadow foxtail, black-grass, twitch grass, and black twitch. Description I ...

'' – Slender meadow foxtail, black grass, twitch grass, black twitch – Eurasia, North Africa * '' Alopecurus nepalensis'' – Himalayas, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan * '' Alopecurus × plettkei'' – France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands * '' Alopecurus ponticus'' – Caucasus * ''

Alopecurus pratensis ''Alopecurus pratensis'', known as the meadow foxtail or the field meadow foxtail, is a perennial grass belonging to the grass family (Poaceae). It is native to Europe and Asia. This common plant is found on grasslands, especially on neutral so ...

'' – meadow foxtail – Eurasia from Azores to Mongolia * '' Alopecurus rendlei'' – central + southern Europe, Algeria, Libya, Turkey * ''

Alopecurus saccatus ''Alopecurus saccatus'' is a species of grass known by the common name Pacific foxtail, or Pacific meadow foxtail. It is native the west coast of the United States from Washington to California, where it grows in moist areas at low elevations. ...

'' – Pacific foxtail – United States ( WA OR ID CA),

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

* '' Alopecurus setarioides'' – France, Greece, Italy, Balkans, Turkey * ''

Alopecurus textilis ''Alopecurus'', or foxtail grass, is a common and widespread genus of plants in the Poaceae, grass family. It is common across temperate and subtropical parts of Eurasia, northern Africa, and the Americas, as well as naturalized in Australia an ...

'' – Turkey, Caucasus, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Turkmenistan * '' Alopecurus turczaninovii'' – Siberia * '' Alopecurus × turicensis'' – France, Switzerland * '' Alopecurus utriculatus'' – Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine * ''

Alopecurus vaginatus ''Alopecurus'', or foxtail grass, is a common and widespread genus of plants in the grass family. It is common across temperate and subtropical parts of Eurasia, northern Africa, and the Americas, as well as naturalized in Australia and on v ...

'' – Crimea, Caucasus, Turkey, Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan * '' Alopecurus × winklerianus'' – France, Switzerland, Germany, Poland ; formerly included Numerous species once considered part of ''Alopecurus'' but now regarded as better suited to other genera: ''

Agrostis ''Agrostis'' (bent or bentgrass) is a large and very nearly cosmopolitan genus of plants in the grass family, found in nearly all the countries in the world. It has been bred as a GMO creeping bent grass. Species * ''Agrostis aequivalvi'' (A ...

Chaetopogon

Cornucopiae ''Cornucopiae'' is a genus of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern plants in the grass family. Common name is hooded grass. Species *'' Cornucopiae alopecuroides'' L. - Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel *'' Cornucopiae cucullatum'' L. - Italy, ...

Crypsis In ecology, crypsis is the ability of an animal or a plant to avoid observation or detection by other animals. It may be a predation strategy or an antipredator adaptation. Methods include camouflage, nocturnality, subterranean lifestyle and ...

Koeleria ''Koeleria'' is a common and widespread genus of plants in the grass family, found on all continents except Antarctica and on various oceanic islands. It includes species known generally as Junegrasses. The genus was named after German botanist ...

Milium

Muhlenbergia ''Muhlenbergia'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. The genus is named in honor of the German-American amateur botanist Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg (1753-1815). Many of the species are known by the common name muhly. The greatest ...

Pennisetum ''Pennisetum'' is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. They are known commonly as fountaingrasses (fountain grasses).Perotis

Phleum ''Phleum'' (timothy) is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the grass family. The genus is native to Europe, Asia and north Africa, with one species (''P. alpinum'') also in North and South America. They are tufted grasses growing to 20� ...

Polypogon Rostraria Setaria Tribolium''

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment

USDA Plants Profile

Grass Manual Genus Treatment
{{Taxonbar, from=Q158104 Poaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

See also

References

External links