YELLOW FOXTAIL
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Setaria pumila (Poir. ) Roem. & J.A. Schultes
[=Setaria glauca (L. ) Beauv.]
Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Annual
Height: 12-40 inches
Family: Poaceae - Grass Family
Flowering Period: June, July, August, September
Also Called: Yellow bristlegrass.
Culms: Erect to ascending, 12 to 40 inches tall, branching at base, flattened, glabrous, often geniculate, sometimes purplish.
Blades: Flat to folded, 4 to 12 inches long and .2 to .5 inch wide, occasionally twisted in loose spiral, glabrous except for scattered long hairs on upper surface close to base.
Sheaths: Prominently flattened, keeled, glabrous, often purplish at base; margins not ciliate.
Ligules: Ciliate membrane.
Inflorescences: Panicle, dense, stiffly erect, cylindric, 2 to 4 inches long; yellowish at maturity.
Spikelets: Broadly ovate, but flat on one side; floret 1, perfect; lemma 1, sterile; 4-12 yellowish-brown to golden-brown bristles at base of each spikelet.
Habitat: Waste areas, disturbed sites, cultivated ground, roadsides, and lawns.
Distribution: Throughout Kansas.
Origin: Naturalized from Eurasia.
Forage Value: Yellow foxtail has fair forage value when immature.
Uses: Birds will consume the seeds.
Comments: A common weed that is one of the first plants to appear in disturbed areas. The bristles have been known to cause mouth injuries in livestock.
Compare with green foxtail