Alopecurus aequalis

Short-awn foxtail

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Short-awn foxtail is a native perennial herb found in wetlands and moist habitats across northern California's coastal and inland regions. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces small green to pale yellow flowers in dense, cylindrical spikes about 3 to 7.5 centimeters long. Growing with slender, upright stems 15 to 47 centimeters tall, it forms delicate grass-like clumps with fine, soft foliage. Its leaves are narrow, ranging 2.5 to 10 centimeters in length and just 1 to 5 millimeters wide, with a distinctive ligule 2 to 5.5 millimeters long. The plant's tiny anthers and straight lemma awns contribute to its delicate, feathery appearance in moist grassland environments.

California counties: Fresno, Humboldt, Kern, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Plumas, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tuolumne, Lake, Riverside, Tulare, Placer, Sonoma, Sacramento, Butte, Trinity, Shasta, El Dorado, Inyo, Mariposa, Alpine, San Mateo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.