Index / Search / Alopecurus pratensis

§1 Plant — species · Poaceae

Alopecurus pratensis L.

vernacular meadow foxtail


USDA
ALPR3
GBIF
5290081
Rank
species
meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis)
Platephotograph · Frank Walther source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Graminoid
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus
Alopecurus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Introduced
  • CAN Canada Introduced
  • GL Greenland Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
  • SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Introduced

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
High
Moisture use
High
Fire
Medium
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
90 min.
Precipitation
18–60 in/yr
pH range
5.8–8
Root depth
12 in min.
Fertility need
High
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
3 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
406,880
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
High
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Medium
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 19 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/ALPR3 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5290081 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z