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Info
Subfamily: Pooideae
Genus etymology: Alopecurus = "foxtail" [Greek] refering to the bristly inflorescence
Species etymology: pratensis = "meadow" [Latin] refering to the habitat
Photosynthetic type: C3 (cool season)
Nativity: naturalized - intentional
First recorded in Hawaiʻi: 2016
Map
Inflorescence
image credit: Karen_FryHabit
image credit: Karen_FryDescription
Plants perennial; shortly rhizomatous. Culms 30-110 cm, erect. Ligules 1.5-3 mm, obtuse to truncate; blades 6-40 cm long, 1.9-8 mm wide; upper sheaths not or scarcely inflated. Panicles 3.5-9 cm long, 6-10 mm wide. Glumes 4-6 mm, connate in the lower 1/5-1/4, membranous, sides pubescent, keels not winged, finely ciliate, apices acute, parallel or convergent; lemmas 4-6 mm, connate in the lower 1/3, usually glabrous, keels sometimes ciliate distally, apices acute, awns 5-10.5 mm, geniculate, exceeding the lemmas by (1)2.2-5.5 mm; anthers 2-4 mm, yellowish, orange, reddish, or purplish, sometimes varying within a population. Caryopses 1-1.2 mm. 2n = 28, 42.
(Description source: Barkworth, M.E., Capels, K.M. & Long, S. (eds.) 1993. Flora of North America, north of Mexico. Volume 24. Magnoliophyta: Commelinidae (in part): Poaceae, Part 1. Oxford University Press, New York. 911 pp. http://floranorthamerica.org/Alopecurus_pratensis )