Alopecurus aequalis Sobol.
little meadow-foxtail (shortawn foxtail)
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
little meadow-foxtail (shortawn foxtail)
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Alopecurus aequalis var. aequalis
Species Information
General:
Perennial, tufted grass from fibrous roots (sometimes flowering as a winter annual); stems erect or decumbent and freely rooting at the nodes (especially when growing in standing water), 20-70 cm tall.
Leaves:
Sheaths open; blades lax to firm, densely and minutely rough at least on the upper surfaces, (1) 2-5 mm wide; ligules jagged or entire, sharp-pointed but usually folded back, (2) 4-8 mm long.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a pale green, cylindrical panicle, mostly 1.5-7 (8) cm long; spikelets less than 4 mm long (excluding the awns); glumes (1.8) 2-2.3 (2.5) mm long, more or less silky over the back, the nerves fringed with long, fine hairs, tips rounded and somewhat wax-papery; lemmas with margins fused for slightly less than 1/2 their length, subequal to the glumes, awned, the awns inserted at or just below midlength, straight, about equal to or slightly longer than the glumes (exserted less than 1.5 mm beyond them), 2-3 mm long; anthers (0.5) 0.6-0.7 (1) mm long.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Green
Blooming Period:
Mid Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Spring to Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Alopecurus aequalis
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1078 | 450 | 2470 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
1 | 0 | 30 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
35 | 20 | 270 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
6 | 1 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
32 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
IDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(4), ICH(1), IDF(13), IMA(1), PP(2), SBPS(10), SBS(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Wet to mesic (including drying) shores, sloughs, streambanks, clearings and ditches from the lowland and steppe to montane zones; common throughout BC; circumboreal, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to ME, MA, PA, VA, TN, MO, NE, NM, AZ and CA; Eurasia, Greenland.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Alopecurus aequalis subsp. aequalis