Bristly Foxtail

This is an easy species to recognize because of its clinging, retrorsely barbed bristles.

Very similar to Setaria viridis (with which it hybridises), differing mainly in the direction of the barbs on the bristles, and prefering warmer parts of the World. It is eaten by cattle when young, but avoided once the spikes appear.

Annuals; clum usually 20-100 cm high, geniculate. Blade 5-18 mm wide, thin, with nimutely tubercle- based hairs; sheath hairy or glabrous, margins ciciate; ligule a ring of hairs, ca. 1 mm long. Panicle contracted, cylindrical, 2-10 cm long, branches interrupted. Spikelets 1.8-2 mm long, subtended by 1-4 bristles, these 4-16 mm long, flattened in lower part, margins with barb like hairs directed downwards; lower glume ca. 1 mm long; upper glume as long as spikelet, 5-veined; lower lemma equaling spikelet, rarely with a minute lower palea; upper lemma finely and transversely rugose; anther ca.0.7 mm long.

Loosely tufted annual; culms 10-100 cm high or more, geniculately ascending. Leaf-blades broadly linear, 5-30 cm long, 4-16 mm wide, flaccid, glabrous to loosely pilose; sheaths glabrous to pubescent. Panicle spiciform, linear to untidily lobed, 2-15 cm long, often entangled, the rhachis hispidulous; bristles 3-8 mm long, retrorsely barbed, tenaciously clinging. Spikelets ellipsoid, 1.5-2.5 mm long; lower glume one-third to half as long as the spikelet; upper glume as long as the spikelet; lower floret barren, the palea minute; upper lemma finely rugose.

Annual. Culms tufted, much branched, ascending, 20–100 cm tall, glabrous. Leaf sheaths thin, glabrous or papillose-pub-erulous, margins ciliolate; leaf blades broadly linear, flaccid, 5–20 × 0.4–1.8 cm, usually glabrous, base subrounded, margins scabrous, apex long acuminate; ligule 0.5–1 mm. Panicle densely spikelike, or lobed with short lateral branches on vigorous specimens, 4–15 cm, spikelets subtended by 1–4 bristles; axis shortly hispidulous; bristles green or brownish, 3–8 mm, retrorsely barbed and often becoming entangled. Spikelets elliptic, 1.8–2.4 mm, green with obvious darker veins, obtuse; lower glume 1/3–1/2 as long as spikelet, obtuse; upper glume boat-shaped, as long as spikelet, 7-veined; lower floret neuter; lower palea much reduced; upper lemma dorsally compressed, finely rugose. Fl. and fr. Jun–Sep. 2n = 18, 36.

Tropics & temperate regions of Old World, introduced in America.

Tropical and temerate regions of the Old World. Taiwan, common in open and waste places.

Distribution: Pakistan (Sind, Baluchistan, Punjab, N.W.F.P. & Kashmir); tropical and warm temperate regions generally.

Nei Mongol, Taiwan, Yunnan [tropical and warm-temperate regions of the Old World; introduced in America].

300-800 m

Fl. & Fr. Per.: throughout much of the year.

Roadsides, open weedy places; 300–1000 m.

Panicum verticillatum Linnaeus, Sp. Pl., ed. 2, 1: 82. 1762; Chaetochloa brevispica Scribner & Merrill; C. vertici-llata (Linnaeus) Scribner; Chamaeraphis italica (Linnaeus) Kuntze var. verticillata (Linnaeus) Kuntze; C. verticillata (Linnaeus) Porter; Panicum asperum Lamarck; Pennisetum verti-cillatum (Linnaeus) R. Brown; Setaria brevispica (Scribner & Merrill) K. Schumann.

Panicum verticillatum L., Sp. Pl. ed. 2. 82. 1762.

verticillata: whorled

Melanitis leda helena (Common twilight brown)

Annuals, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems geniculate, decumbent, or lax, sometimes rooting at nodes, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem internodes solid or spongy, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Leaf blades scabrous, roughened, or wrinkled, Ligul e present, Ligule a fringe of hairs, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence a dense slender spike-like panicle or raceme, branches contracted, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence spike linear or cylindric, several times longer than wide, Peduncle or rachis scabrous or pubescent, often with long hairs, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets dorsally compressed or terete, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets with 2 florets, Spikelet with 1 fertile floret and 1-2 sterile florets, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating below the glumes, Spikelets all subtended by bristles, Spikelet bristles 1-3, Spikelet bracts bristles not disarticulating with spikelets, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes distinctly unequal, Glumes shorter than adjacent lemma, Glume equal to or longer than spikelet, Glumes 3 nerved, Glumes 4-7 nerved, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma similar in texture to glumes, Lemma becoming indurate, enclosing palea and caryopsis, Lemma 5-7 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma rugose, with cross wrinkles, or roughened, Lemma apex acute or acuminate, Lemma awnless, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea shorter than lemma, Palea 2 nerved or 2 keeled, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis.

Setaria verticillata is a species of grass known by the common names hooked bristlegrass, rough bristle-grass and bristly foxtail. It is native to Europe, but it is known on most continents as an introduced species and often a noxious weed. It is a hardy bunchgrass which grows in many types of urban, cultivated, and disturbed habitat. It is a weed of many types of agricultural crops, growing in vineyards and fields. Herbicide-resistant strains have been noted.

This is an annual grass with decumbent or erect stems growing up to a meter long. The leaf blades are up to 25 centimeters long and have a long sheath around the stem. The inflorescence is a dense panicle up to 15 centimeters long which tapers at both ends. It contains many small spikelets and bristles. The bristles have tiny backwards-pointing barbs that help them hook onto clothing or animal fur, facilitating their dispersal.

Seeds of the grass are used to make beer in South Africa and porridge in Namibia. They have been used as a famine food in India.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Setaria verticillata.