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Setaria faberi Herrm.

Giant foxtail

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
SpeciesfaberiAfter Ernst Faber (1839-1899), a German missionary, writer on Confucius and plant collector in China, author of An Introduction to Chinese Religious Studies and German Daoism and Historical Nature of Daoism

About plant names...

Giant foxtail is not native to North America, but it is now widespread. In some states it is considered an invasive species because it competes with several crops.

Identification: Plants are 2-5′ (60-152 cm) tall, with multiple stems. The grass blades alternate, reaching up to 1′ (38 cm) long and ¾″ (1.9 cm) wide. They are 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. Stem tops have a panicle—the "foxtail"—up to 7″ (17 cm) long. Bristly and usually somewhat bent under its own weight, the flowerheads begin green, becoming light brown over time.

 

Setaria faberi (giant foxtail)

9/19/2013 · Harvard, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 8 × 6″ (20 × 14 cm)

Setaria faberi (giant foxtail)

9/19/2013 · Harvard, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 8 × 6″ (20 × 14 cm)

Here are the foxtails:

  You are here
Setaria faberi

Setaria pumila

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 faberi (giant foxtail) 


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 faberi (giant foxtail) 


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

Setaria faberi (giant foxtail) 


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:

Missouriplants.com

Illinois Wildflowers

The Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide

a book entitled Giant Foxtail (PDF)

Courses.missouristate.edu

References:

Uva, Richard H.; Neal, Joseph C.; DiTomaso, Joseph M., Weeds of the Northeast, Comstock Publishing Associates, 1997, p. 82 (good comparison between giant

Unknown Reference!

Setaria faberi (giant foxtail)

9/24/2010 · Nissitissit River Wildlife Management Area, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 4½ × 3″ (11 × 7.9 cm) ID is uncertain

Setaria faberi (giant foxtail)

9/19/2013 · Harvard, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 6 × 8″ (14 × 20 cm)

Setaria faberi (giant foxtail)

9/19/2013 · Harvard, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 8 × 6″ (20 × 14 cm)

 

Setaria faberi description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 5 Oct 2021.

© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.


 

Setaria faberi (giant foxtail)

9/19/2013 · Harvard, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 6 × 8″ (14 × 20 cm)

Setaria faberi (giant foxtail)

9/24/2010 · Nissitissit River Wildlife Management Area, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 8 × 5″ (19 × 13 cm) ID is uncertain

Setaria faberi (giant foxtail)

9/24/2010 · Nissitissit River Wildlife Management Area, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 9.2 cm) ID is uncertain

Range:

About this map...