Meadow Foxtail

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / parasite
Blumeria graminis parasitises live Alopecurus pratensis

Plant / resting place / within
puparium of Cerodontha denticornis may be found in leaf sheath of Alopecurus pratensis
Other: major host/prey

Plant / resting place / on
female of Chirothrips hamatus may be found on live Alopecurus pratensis
Remarks: season: 5-7

Foodplant / pathogen
Cladochytrium caespitis infects and damages rotten root of Alopecurus pratensis

Foodplant / gall
stroma of Epichlo causes gall of stem of Alopecurus pratensis
Remarks: Other: uncertain

Foodplant / spot causer
colony of Mastigosporium anamorph of Mastigosporium album causes spots on leaf of Alopecurus pratensis
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / parasite
hypophyllous telium of Puccinia coronata parasitises live leaf of Alopecurus pratensis
Remarks: season: mid 8-

Foodplant / parasite
linear telium of Puccinia graminis f.sp. avenae parasitises live stem of Alopecurus pratensis

Foodplant / parasite
hypophyllous, subepidermal telium of Puccinia recondita parasitises live leaf of Alopecurus pratensis

Foodplant / spot causer
long, linear, erumpent sorus of Urocystis agropyri causes spots on live, blistered leaf of Alopecurus pratensis

Foodplant / parasite
embedded sorus of Urocystis alopecuri parasitises live leaf of Alopecurus pratensis

This species has been introduced to Japan, North America, and some other temperate countries as a pasture and forage grass.

Perennial, loosely tufted, shortly rhizomatous. Culms erect, slightly geniculate at base, up to 100 cm tall, 3–5-noded. Leaf sheaths loose, smooth, slightly inflated; leaf blades 5–25 cm, 3–10 mm wide, abaxial surface smooth, adaxial surface scaberulous; ligule 2–4 mm. Panicle cylindrical, 3–8 cm, gray-green. Spikelets elliptic, 4–6 mm; glumes herbaceous, smooth, keels stiffly ciliate, lateral veins shortly pilose, margins connate in lower 1/3, apices acute, slightly convergent; lemma equaling or slightly shorter than glumes, margins connate below middle, awned from lower 1/4, apex puberulous, subacute; awn exserted 3–6 mm from spikelet, weakly geniculate, column not twisted. Anthers yellow, 2–3.5 mm. Fl. and fr. Apr–Aug. 2n = 28.

Heilongjiang, Nei Mongol, Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan; SW Asia, Europe; introduced elsewhere].

Montane meadows, forest margins, river valleys; 1500–2500 m.

Alopecurus alpinus Smith var. songaricus Schrenk ex Fischer & Meyen; A. songaricus (Schrenk ex Fischer & Meyen) V. Petrov.

Alopecurus pratensis L. Sp. PI. 60. 1753
Perennial; culms erect, glabrous, about 2-noded, 30-80 cm. tall; sheaths glabrous, shorter than the internodes, the upper somewhat inflated; ligule truncate, 1-2 mm. long; blades flat, scabrous, 5-15 cm. long, 2-6 mm. wide, the uppermost reduced; panicles long-exserted, oblong, usually scarcely narrowed at summit, 3-7 cm. long, 7-10 mm. thick; glumes 5 mm. long, villous on the keel and pubescent on the sides; lemma glabrous, about as long as the glumes, the awn attached near the base, geniculate, exserted 2-5 mm.
Type locality: Europe.
Distribution: Fields and waste places, Newfoundland and Labrador to Alaska, and southward to Delaware, Iowa, Idaho, and Oregon; introduced; native of Eurasia.

Perennials, Terrestria l, 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 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 1-2 cm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, 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 th an wide, Inflorescence single raceme, fascicle or spike, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets laterally compressed, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating below the glumes, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes equal or subequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glume margins connate at base, Glumes keeled or winged, Glume surface hairy, villous or pilose, Glumes 3 nerved, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma margins connate below, Lemma 5-7 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma body or surface hairy, Lemma apex truncate, rounded, or obtuse, Lemma distinctly awned, more than 2-3 mm, Lemma with 1 awn, Lemma awn less than 1 cm long, Lemma awn subapical or dorsal, Lemma awn once geniculate, bent once, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Stamens 3, Styles 1, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.

Alopecurus pratensis, known as the meadow foxtail or the field meadow foxtail, is a perennial grass belonging to the grass family (Poaceae). It is native to Europe and Asia.

This common plant is found on grasslands, especially on neutral soils. It is found on moist, fertile soils, but avoids waterlogged, light or dry soils. The species forms dense swards leading to low botanical diversity.

This species is widely cultivated for pasture and hay, and has become naturalised in many areas outside its native range, including Australia and North America.