Green foxtail
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.
Scientific name: Setaria viridis (L.) P. Beauv.
Common name(s): green foxtail, green bristlegrass
Links: USDA PLANTS Profile , Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- early July
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- mid-July
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- early August
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- stem detail
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- yellow foxtail left, green foxtail right
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- yellow foxtail left, green foxtail right
Description:
– annual
-leaf blade
- 4–25 mm in width
- 3-30 cm in length
-inflorescence is a panicle
- 1-10 cm long
-elliptic spikelets
-erect culms
– similar to S. faberi, which also occurs in New England
Habitat:
-disturbed sites
-meadows
-fields
Natural History:
-native to Europe, North Africa, and Asia
-introduced to Canada in 1821
-significant weed of grain crops
Sources:
Go Botany. “Setaria Viridis (L.) Beauv.” Setaria Viridis (Green Foxtail): Go Botany, National Science Foundation, 2021, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/setaria/viridis/.
KEW Science. “Setaria Viridis (L.) P.Beauv.” Plants of the World Online, 2020, www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1171009-2.