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Setaria viridis (L.) P. Beauv.

Green foxtail, green bristlegrass

KingdomPlantaePlants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
SubkingdomTracheobiontaVascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
DivisionMagnoliophytaFlowering plants, also known as angiosperms
ClassLiliopsidaMonocots (plants with a single seed leaf); includes the lily family
SubclassCommelinidaeDayflowers and spiderworts, and several others
OrderCyperalesFlowering plants including grasses
FamilyPoaceaeGrasses (but not sedges or rushes)
GenusSetariaFrom Latin saeta, “a bristle or hair,” for the bristly spikelets
SpeciesviridisGreen

About plant names...

Green foxtail is native to Europe and Asia, but naturalized and widespread in North America now. Eventually this grass was cultivated to become the food crop foxtail millet.

Identification: Plants grow in clumps with erect stems up to 3′ (1 m) high. Leaf blades are medium dull green, rough but hairless (except sometimes near the edges), and up to 1′ (40 cm) × ⅞″ (2.5 cm). Flowerheads are a green panicle up to 6″ (15 cm) in length and ¼-⅝″ (8.5-16 mm) around, usually erect, sometimes slightly nodding.

 

Setaria viridis (green foxtail, green bristlegrass)

9/13/2010 · Burge’s Pond, Westford, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 14 × 9″ (35 × 23 cm) ID is uncertain

Setaria viridis (green foxtail, green bristlegrass)

8/27/2017 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Self-guided Nature Trail, Hollis, New Hamp­shire · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 9.2 cm)

Here are the foxtails:

 
Setaria faberi

Setaria pumila
You are here
Setaria viridis
Common Name

giant foxtail

yellow foxtail

green foxtail
Plant Plants are 2-5′ (60-152 cm) tall, the largest foxtails, with multiple stems. The grass blades alternate, reaching up to 1′ (38 cm) long and ¾″ (1.9 cm) wide. Plants grow in clumps to heights of 3′ (1 m). Plants grow in clumps with erect stems up to 3′ (1 m) high.
Flowers Flowerheads are up to 7″ (17 cm) long. Bristly and drooping under its own weight, they are green to light brown or purplish over time.

Setaria viridis (green foxtail, green bristlegrass) 


¾-6″ (2-15 cm) long × ⅜″ (1 cm) in diameter, erect. The flowerhead is made up of spikelets with bristles that appear yellow at maturity. It blooms from June through December.

Setaria viridis (green foxtail, green bristlegrass) 


Green panicle up to 6″ (15 cm) in length and ¼-⅝″ (8.5-16 mm) around, usually erect, sometimes slightly nodding.

Setaria viridis (green foxtail, green bristlegrass) 


Leaves Not very stiff, often drooping. Upper leaf surfaces usually have scattered fine, stiff, bristled hairs, but they may also be smooth. Leaf blade edges have tiny teeth that make them feel rough. At the base of each grass blade, just above where it connects to the stem, there is a ringlike tuft of white hairs up to ⅛″ (3 mm) long. Grass blades are flat or sometimes "keeled," 4-12″ (10-30 cm) by ⅛-½″ (5-12 mm). Just above the point where the grass blade attaches to the stem, there are a lot of small hairs (ligule), on the inside of the blade. Leaf blades are medium dull green, rough but hairless (except sometimes near the edges), and up to 1′ (40 cm) × ⅞″ (2.5 cm).
Range/ Zones

Habitats Meadows, fields, landfills, mined land, construction sites, vacant lots, yard boundaries, gardens, railroads, roadsides, and waste land. Roadsides, ditch banks, fields, pastures, cropland, orchards, vineyards, gardens, turf, disturbed sites. Margins of woods, upland prairies, streambanks, pond margins, pastures, fields, lawns, cultivated areas, disturbed sites, roadsides, railroads.
Type Wild Wild Wild
Occurrence Common, sometimes invasive. Fairly common Common

 

Online References:

The Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide

Illinois Wildflowers

Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants

Setaria viridis (green foxtail, green bristlegrass)

8/27/2017 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Self-guided Nature Trail, Hollis, New Hamp­shire · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm)

Setaria viridis (green foxtail, green bristlegrass)

9/1/2014 · New Mex­ico · ≈ 7 × 10″ (16 × 25 cm)

Setaria viridis (green foxtail, green bristlegrass)

9/1/2014 · New Mex­ico · ≈ 10 × 7″ (25 × 16 cm)

Setaria viridis (green foxtail, green bristlegrass)

8/27/2017 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Self-guided Nature Trail, Hollis, New Hamp­shire · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm)

 

Setaria viridis description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 11 Jul 2023.

© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.


 

Setaria viridis (green foxtail, green bristlegrass)

8/27/2017 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Self-guided Nature Trail, Hollis, New Hamp­shire · ≈ 6 × 4″ (16 × 11 cm)

Setaria viridis (green foxtail, green bristlegrass)

9/13/2010 · Burge’s Pond, Westford, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 9 × 6″ (22 × 14 cm) ID is uncertain

Setaria viridis (green foxtail, green bristlegrass)

8/12/2009 · Pearl Hill State Park, Townsend, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 11 × 7″ (27 × 18 cm) ID is uncertain

Range:

About this map...