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Setaria pumila - yellow foxtail

Scientific Family
Poaceae
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
No

Grass Description

Origin
Introduced

Found in lawns, irrigated lands, waste places, in disturbed soils.

Plant Community
Disturbed Areas
Low elevation
4500
High elevation
7000

General Description

Mostly hairless stems ranging from green to purple-tinged bristles. The bristles turn yellow at maturity, giving the grass its name.

Tufted 1 to 3 foot annual; stems branch at base, usually at sharp angles, blade with hairs on lower surface; dense, spikelike, erect seedheads; spikelets turgid, subtended by 1/8 to 1/4 inch long 5-20 bristles, ligule a dense fringe of stiff hairs.

Grass type
Annual
Rhizomes
No
Stolons
No
Clump Diameter 2 ft or more
No
Bushy - highly branched
No
Height with Seedheads
24 inches or more
Seedhead Structure
Branched - contracted
Seedhead droops
No
First bloom month
July
Last bloom month
October

Flower Characteristics

Flowers per Spikelet
One-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
No
Awns
Absent
Three Awns
No
Awns bent
No
Flower and Seedhead Notes

The seedhead is cylindrical and bristly, reaching 6 inches in length and 1/3 to 2/3 inch in width. Spikelets are approximately 1/8 inch long, green, and each spikelet has 1 to 3 bristles that are 1/4 to 1/2 inch long.

Vegetative Characteristics

Blade is hairy
Yes
Blade margins white
No
Blade cross-section
Flat

Leaf blades may reach 12 inches in length and 7 to 12-1/2 inches in width, and have long silky hairs at the leaf bases. Auricles are absent and the ligule is a fringe of hairs reaching 1/16 inch in length.

Sheath is hairy
No
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
No
Ligule
Hairy
Auricles
No

Not available.