1. Alopecurus aequalis Sobol. (floating foxtail, short‑awn foxtail)

Pl. 131 a–c; Map 531

Plants perennial, usually short‑lived. Flowering stems 20–60 cm long, erect or ascending from usually spreading bases, sometimes rooting at the lower nodes. Leaf sheaths with the ligules 2.5–5.0 mm long. Leaf blades 5–15 cm long, 1–5 mm wide. Inflorescences 2–8 cm long, 3–5 mm wide. Glumes 1.5–2.7 mm long, rounded to bluntly pointed at the tip, the midnerve (keel) and often also the lateral nerves hairy. Awn 0.3–2.0 mm long (included in the spikelet or extended less than 1 mm past the glumes), attached near the midpoint of the lemma midnerve, straight or nearly so. Anthers 0.5–1.0 mm long. Fruits 1.0–1.4 mm long. 2n=14. May–September.

Uncommon and widely scattered in the southern and central portions of the state (northern U.S. south to New Jersey, Missouri, and California; Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Europe, Asia). Margins of ponds, sinkhole ponds, and sloughs; also moist, disturbed areas, sometimes emergent aquatics.