Alopecurus geniculatus

Water foxtail, Water Foxtail

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Water foxtail is a California native perennial found in northwestern, high Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, central Coast, southern Coast, and Great Basin regions in open, wet meadows, pools, shores, and streambanks at elevations below 3,200 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces pale green to whitish flowers in dense, cylindrical spikes 1.5 to 6 centimeters long. Growing with slender, bent or geniculate stems 14 to 55 centimeters tall, it forms loose tufts in moist environments. Its leaf blades are narrow, measuring 2 to 8 centimeters long and 1 to 4 millimeters wide, with a distinctive ligule 2.5 to 5 millimeters long. The flower's lemma features a bent awn that extends 2 to 3.5 millimeters beyond the lemma body, giving the plant a delicate, feathery appearance.

Habitat: Open, wet meadows, pools, shores, streambanks

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: < 3200 m

Bioregions: NW, CaRH, SN (exc Teh), CCo, SCo, GB

California counties: Alpine, Humboldt, Lassen, Los Angeles, Modoc, Plumas, Marin, Mono, Tulare, Lake, San Bernardino, Sonoma, Shasta, Mendocino, Fresno, Del Norte, Tehama, Butte, Sierra, San Mateo, Tuolumne

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