Kingdom Plantae Family Poaceae Scientific name Setaria pumila | Order Poales Genus Setaria Rank Species | |
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Similar Setaria, Setaria faberi, Setaria verticillata, Setaria glauca, Setaria viridis | ||
Setaria pumila is a species of grass known by many common names, including yellow foxtail, yellow bristle-grass, pigeon grass, and cattail grass. It is native to Europe, but it is known throughout the world as a common weed. It grows in lawns, sidewalks, roadsides, cultivated fields, and many other places. This annual grass grows 20 centimeters to well over a meter in height, its mostly hairless stems ranging from green to purple-tinged in color. The leaf blades are hairless on the upper surfaces, twisting, and up to 30 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a stiff, cylindrical bundle of spikelets 2 to 15 centimeters long with short, blunt bristles. The panicle may appear yellow or yellow-tinged.
In New Zealand S. pumila can cover 20-40% of otherwise productive dairy farming pasture causing a loss in milk production.
