Alopecurus myosuroides

Slender meadow foxtail

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Slender meadow foxtail is a naturalized annual grass found in the San Joaquin Valley and southern coastal regions of California in pastures at elevations below 100 meters. Flowering from March to May, this grass produces pale green to green foxtail-like spikes approximately 7 to 10 centimeters long. Growing with upright stems 40 to 45 centimeters tall, it has slender and somewhat delicate aerial growth. Its leaf blades are narrow, measuring 8 to 11 centimeters long and 3.5 to 6 millimeters wide, with a ligule 4.5 to 6 millimeters in length. The spikelet's lemma has a distinctive bent awn that extends 3 to 4 millimeters beyond the lemma body.

Habitat: Pastures

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 100 m

Bioregions: SnJV, SCo

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