''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 nom ...
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 an ...
. 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
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...
, as well as naturalized in Australia and on various islands.
Foxtails can be annual or
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 widel ...
. They grow in tufts. They have flat
leaves
A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...
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
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 mechanis ...
) 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 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
* ''
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 vari ...
'' – 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 vari ...
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 vari ...
'' – 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 vari ...
'' – 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 vari ...
'' – 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 vari ...
'' – 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 vari ...
'' – 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 vari ...
'' – 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 vari ...
'' – 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 ...
'' – 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 vari ...
'' – 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 vari ...
'' –
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 separa ...
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 ge ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 northwes ...
* ''
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 ...
'' – Peru, Bolivia,
Jujuy
San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies ne ...
* ''
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 ...
'' –
Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang () Postal romanization, formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a Provinces of China, province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is th ...
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 ...
* ''
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 ...
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'' – 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 s ...
'' – meadow foxtail – Eurasia from Azores to Mongolia
* ''
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.
...
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 textilis
''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, 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 ...
'' – France, Switzerland
* '' Alopecurus utriculatus'' – Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine
* '' Alopecurus vaginatus'' – 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'' ...
Chaetopogon
''Chaetopogon'' is a genus of European plants in the grass family.
;Species
The only known species is ''Chaetopogon fasciculatus'' native to Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Croatia.
;formerly included
see '' Polypogon''
*''Chaetopogon creticus ...
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, Gr ...
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 an ...
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 2 ...
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 ...