Alopecurus aequalis var. aequalis

Shortawn foxtail

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Shortawn foxtail is a native perennial found in northwestern California, the high Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin Valley, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and Great Basin in wet meadows and along shorelines at elevations of 50 to 3,500 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces small greenish-yellow flowers in dense, compact spikes approximately 3 to 6 millimeters wide. Growing with slender stems reaching heights typical of meadow grasses, it forms tufted clumps in moist environments. Its narrow leaves are characteristic of grass species, with blade-like structures emerging from the base of the plant. The flower spikes feature delicate glumes and lemmas with awns slightly extending beyond the lemma body.

Habitat: Wet meadows, shores

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 50-3500 m

Bioregions: NW, CaRH, SN (exc Teh), SnJV, TR, PR, GB (exc W&ampI)

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