Alopecurus myosuroides Huds.

Slender Meadow Foxtail; Mouse Foxtail; Slender Foxtail Grass

Herb

Annual

Vascular

Slender Meadow Foxtail is an introduced herbaceous annual in the Grass family (Poaceae). It is native to Eurasia. In Alabama it has been found in the Black Belt region of Central Alabama. It is found in pastures, in fallow fields, on roadsides, and along streams. It grows on moist to wet clay soils. It is an annual cool season bunch grass with a fibrous root system. The stems are 1-3 feet in height. The stems are often geniculate at the base. The leaves are linear to lanceolate in outline, glabrous, with entire margins. The leaf sheath is smooth and the ligule is membranous. Flowers are produced in a cylindrical spike-like panicle. The glumes have 3 nerves and the lemmas are equal to the glumes in length with 4-5 nerves. The fruit is a grain with a short geniculate awn. Slender Meadow Foxtail is a major pest of cereal crops in Europe. Slender Meadow Foxtail is similar to the native Carolina Foxtail (Alopecurus carolinianus Walter), but is a larger plant. The two species often grow in the same habitat.--A. Diamond

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Not Native

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