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Orange Foxtail

Orange Foxtail

Alopecurus aequalis

Identify the Orange Foxtail from a photo and log your finds with Florapass.

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How common: Common

Orange Foxtail is a small, fine grass of wet places. It makes short, soft, foxtail‑like green heads on slender, bending stems. You can often spot it along muddy shores, in ditches and other trampled wet ground.

Did you know?

  • Its pollen sacs turn from pale yellow to bright orange, which gives the plant its English name.
  • In shallow water the stems can float and even root from the joints.

About the species

Identification

A delicate grass 10–30 cm tall. Stems bend at the joints, often branching at the base; in shallow water they may float and root from the joints. Leaves are narrow (2–5 mm), often slightly grooved, green to bluish-green; there is a short pale flap where the leaf meets the stem (about 3–5 mm). The flower head is a soft, dense upright cylinder 2–6 cm, green or slightly bluish. During bloom, tiny hanging pollen sacs turn orange. Similar to Marsh Foxtail but usually slimmer; the orange pollen sacs are a good clue. Flowers in Finland from June to August.

Plant group

Grasses, sedges and rushes

Habitat

shore

Flowering

Jun–Aug

About the habitat

Grows on wet ground and in shallow water: muddy edges of ponds and lakes, ditches, wet tracks, and disturbed damp places such as yards, fields and roadsides. Fairly common across Finland.

Sources

Photo: Joe Dillon, CC BY 4.0 https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6185612019

Text: Pinkka: Verso- ja leviäintunnistus - Kaikki versot, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40628

Text: Pinkka: Pieni maatalouslajintuntemus - Puuvartiset, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40628

Text: Pinkka: BIO-513 Syventävä putkilokasvituntemus - Abies-Butomus, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40628

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rantapuntarp%C3%A4%C3%A4

See also