''Alopecurus'', or foxtail grass, is a common and widespread genus 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, northern Africa, and the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
, as well as naturalized in Australia and on various islands.
Foxtails can be annual or perennial. They grow in tufts. They have flat
leaves
A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...
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) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...
(a branching head without terminal flower) with 1-flowered spikelets. A few, particularly ''A. myosuroides'', are considered weeds, 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 a ...
Alopecurus albovii
''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 ...
'' – Caucasus
* ''
Alopecurus anatolicus
''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 ...
'' – eastern Turkey
* ''
Alopecurus apiatus
''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 ...
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
''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, Turkey, Iran
* ''
Alopecurus baptarrhenius
''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 ...
'' – Ethiopia
* ''
Alopecurus bonariensis
''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 ...
'' – Argentina, Uruguay
* ''
Alopecurus borii
''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 ...
'' – Turkmenistan
* ''
Alopecurus bornmuelleri
''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 ...
'' – Palestine
* ''
Alopecurus brachystachus
''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 ...
'' – Russia, China, Mongolia
* ''
Alopecurus bulbosus
''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 ...
'' – Bulbous foxtail – Mediterranean, western Europe
* ''
Alopecurus carolinianus
''Alopecurus carolinianus'' is a species of grass known by the common names Carolina foxtail and tufted foxtail.
Distribution
It is native to much of North America, including most of the United States and western Canada. It may be an introduced ...
Alopecurus creticus
''Alopecurus creticus'', the Cretan meadow foxtail, is a species of foxtail grass.
It is a bunchgrass native to Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece, the east Aegean Islands, Crete and Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially t ...
'' – Greece, Turkey, Balkans
* ''
Alopecurus dasyanthus
''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, Iran
* ''
Alopecurus davisii
''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 ...
Alopecurus geniculatus
''Alopecurus geniculatus'' is a species of Poaceae, 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.
''Alopec ...
Alopecurus gerardii
''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 ...
'' – Mediterranean
* ''
Alopecurus glacialis
''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 ...
'' – 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
''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 ...
'' – Chile
* ''
Alopecurus himalaicus
''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 ...
Alopecurus hitchcockii
''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 ...
Alopecurus japonicus
''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 ...
'' – China, Japan, Korea
* ''
Alopecurus laguroides
''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 ...
'' – Caucasus, Turkey
* ''
Alopecurus lanatus
''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 ...
'' – Turkey
* ''
Alopecurus longiaristatus
''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 ...
Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...
* ''
Alopecurus magellanicus
''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 ...
'' – 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
''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 ...
'' – Ukraine
* ''
Alopecurus mucronatus
''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 ...
'' – 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
...
'' – Slender meadow foxtail, black grass, twitch grass, black twitch – Eurasia, North Africa
* ''
Alopecurus nepalensis
''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 ...
'' – Himalayas, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan
* ''
Alopecurus × plettkei
''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 ...
'' – France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands
* ''
Alopecurus ponticus
''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 ...
Alopecurus rendlei
''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 ...
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.
...
Alopecurus setarioides
''Alopecurus setarioides'' is a species of foxtail grass that is found in France, Greece, Italy and Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinenta ...
'' – France, Greece, Italy, Balkans, Turkey
* '' Alopecurus textilis'' – Turkey, Caucasus, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Turkmenistan
* ''
Alopecurus turczaninovii
''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 ...
'' – Siberia
* ''
Alopecurus × turicensis
''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 ...
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 ...
Alopecurus × winklerianus
''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 ...
'' – 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'' ...
Chaetopogon
''Chaetopogon'' is a genus of European plants in the Poaceae, grass family.
;Species
The only known species is ''Chaetopogon fasciculatus'' native to Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Croatia.
;formerly included
see ''Polypogon''
*''Chaetopogon cret ...
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 ...
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
''Polypogon'' is a nearly cosmopolitan genus of plants in the grass family, commonly known beard grass or rabbitsfoot grass.
Description
''Polypogon'' species vary in appearance; some are erect, while others drape over the ground in waves. M ...
Rostraria
''Rostraria'' is a genus of plants in the grass family, native primarily to Eurasia and North Africa with one species native to South America. Hairgrass is a common name.
These grasses are sometimes included in genus ''Koeleria''.
; Species
* ...
Setaria
''Setaria'' is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family. The name is derived from the Latin word ''seta'', meaning "bristle" or "hair", which refers to the bristly spikelets.
The genus includes over 100 species distributed in many tr ...