Yellow Foxtail

Yellow Foxtail

Weed Flora of Mississippi

Family: Poaceae

Genus: Setaria         Species:   pumila

History: Native to Europe. It has many common names, including yellow foxtail, yellow bristle-grass, pigeon grass, and cattail grass.

Life Cycle: Summer annual

Special Characteristics: It grows in lawns, sidewalks, roadsides, cultivated fields, and many other places. Yellow foxtail has erect growth habit up to 1 meter in height. It has a hairy ligule, the majority of leaf and sheath are glabrous, but long hairs can be found at the base of the leaf blade.

Roots: Fibrous roots

Stems: Erect, leafy, single or clumped. Stems are multiple and branching from the base.

Leaves: Leaves are alternate. The upper surface is sparsely covered in long hair near the base. Yellow foxtail is often covered with small hairs near the base but is glabrous towards the upper surface.

Flower: July to September

Seeds / Fruit: The inflorescence is a stiff, cylindrical bundle of spikelets 2 to 15 centimeters long with short, blunt bristles. The panicle may appear yellow. The entire spikelet drops off when mature.

Interference:

Yellow foxtail is a problematic weed in many row crops such as corn, cotton, peanut, and soybean that reduces crop yield and quality by competing for resources like light, water, and nutrients, especially during the crop’s establishment.