yellow foxtail
Family
PoaceaeScientific Name
Setaria pumilaOther Common Names:
yellow bristlegrass
pigeongrass
Synonyms (former Scientific Names):
Panicum glaucum
Setaria glauca
Chaetochloa lutescens
Chaetochloa glauca
Setaria lutescens
Habit
Plants germinate in spring and compete with crops during summer. Seed production starts in mid to late summer. Reproduces by seed. Plants grow in clumbs and lack stolons or rhizomes.
Leaves
Leaves are light green, up to 1 1/2 in wide at maturity, and have long sparse hairs on the lower 2/3. Ligule is hairy and plants lack auricles.
Identifying Characteristics
Ligule is hairy, stems and lower 2/3 of leaf are hairy. Plants lack auricles and do not have stolons or rhizomes. Plants have characteristic foxtail seed head that is long but does not nod.
Flower Seed Head
A bristly spike on the end of a long, slender, naked stem. Seedhead is typically long ( 2 in) and does not nod.
Seed Fruit
Seed are 3 to 5 mm long and covered with upper and lower sheath (palea and lemma) that have pronounced veins. Seed often have bristles that arise from the scar. These bristles may or may not be present.
Where Found
Typically found in cultivated areas following a tillage event. May occur in open areas such as the border of rock driveways or in highly disrupted turfgrass.
Leaf Hair on Upper Surface
hairs on basal half only
Leaf Arrangement
rolled in bud
Mature Leaf Width
Varies:
less than 5 mm,
6 to 15 mm
Stem
flat or oval
Seedhead
bristly
Root Structure
fibrous
Life Cycle
summer annual
Auricle
not present
Ligule
hairy
Ligule Length
Varies:
1-2 mm,
2-3 mm
Plant Type
Grass