2. Alopecurus carolinianus Walter (common foxtail, Carolina foxtail)
Pl. 131
d–f; Map 532
Plants annual. Flowering stems 5–60 cm long, erect or
ascending, rarely from spreading bases, usually not rooting at the lower nodes.
Leaf sheaths with the ligules 1.5–5.0 mm long. Leaf blades 1–10 cm long, 1–4 mm
wide. Inflorescences 1–5 cm long, 3–5 mm wide. Glumes 1.5–2.4 mm long, rounded
to bluntly pointed at the tip, the midnerve (keel) and usually also the lateral
nerves and basal portion hairy. Awn 2.5–5.0 mm long (extended 1–4 mm past the
glumes), attached toward the base of the lemma midnerve, twisted or bent
abruptly near the midpoint. Anthers 0.2–0.7 mm long. Fruits 1.0–1.4 mm long. 2n=14.
April–August.
Scattered nearly throughout the state (U.S., Canada, Alaska). Moist depressions of glades and margins of ponds and sloughs; also pastures,
fallow fields, ditches, roadsides, and moist, disturbed areas, sometimes
emergent aquatics.