Yellow foxtail
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.
Scientific name: Setaria pumila (Poir.) Roemer & J.A. Schultes
Common name(s): yellow foxtail, yellow bristlegrass, pigeon grass
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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- mid-July
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- inflorescence detail
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- leaf detail
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- August
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- stems, August
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- August
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- yellow foxtail left, green foxtail right
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- yellow foxtail left, green foxtail right
Description:
– annual
-noxious
-leaf blade 4–10 mm in width
-inflorescence
-spikelet 3–3.5 mm in length
Habitat:
-disturbed sites
-meadows
-fields
Natural History:
-native to Eurasia
-prehistorically cultivated in southern India for its starchy grains
- eaten cooked or ground into flour and baked into roti
-It was gathered from the wild for food across tropical Africa and Asia.
Sources:
Go Botany. “Setaria Pumila (Poir.) Roemer & J.A. Schultes.” Setaria Pumila (Yellow Foxtail): Go Botany, 2021, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/setaria/pumila/.