Sunday, October 16, 2011

Giant Foxtail



Grasses are hard to identify, right?  Well- here's one that everyone should learn to recognize.  You've surely seen it before.  There aren't many grasses that have these seed heads that look like a fox's tail.  The most common ones in Ohio are in the genus Setaria.  This particular species, which can grow to four feet or so, is Setaria faberi, the giant foxtail.  At the Delaware Wildlife Area, there's a fallow field which was dense with this species- as if it was planted.

Learn this grass, impress your friends with your nerdy botanical knowledge. Giant goxtail- Setaria faberi.

-Tom

p.s.- This is a non-native species, but its not considered particularly invasive.

PPS.  This is published post number 1000 at The Ohio Nature Blog, which I've been pecking away at since 2006.  I've been working on a retrospective that was to be post number 1000, but in my tiredness I forgot that the milestone was creeping up.

-Tom

5 comments:

  1. great post Tom , and congrats on the big 1000.

    dan

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  2. Folks should also learn the foxtails because, with the exception of Setaria geniculata (perennial foxtail), they're all non-native and pretty invasive.

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  3. Thanks Dan!

    Scott- I actually wrote in the above post that this species is "not considered particularly invasive". Weedy, for sure, but in my travels in Ohio, I haven't seen this plant come to dominate natural areas, nor did we manage for this species in our State Nature Preserves. Do you have problems with it in your "neck of the woods"?

    -Tom

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  4. We have big problems with foxtail in our meadows and old-fields, but we don't have a problem with it invading undisturbed areas or woodlands. So, in that sense, it's not a problematic invasive. But, in the fields, it's very difficult to prevent it from taking over once it has become established.

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  5. Congrats on post number 1000!

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