Alopecurus myosuroides

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Cladus: Commelinids
Ordo: Poales

Familia: Poaceae
Subfamilia: Pooideae
Tribus: Poeae
Subtribus: Alopecurinae
Genus: Alopecurus
Species: A. myosuroides
Name

Alopecurus myosuroides Huds., 1762
Synonyms

Heterotypic
Alopecurus agrestis L., Sp. Pl. ed. 2: 89 (1762).
Phleum flavum Scop., Fl. Carniol., ed. 2, 1: 55 (1771).
Alopecurus agrestis var. geniculatus Koeler, Descr. Gram. Gall. Germ.: 36 (1802).
Alopecurus agrestis var. minor Gray, Nat. Arr. Brit. Pl. 2: 142 (1821 publ. 1822).
Alopecurus tonsus Dumort., Observ. Gramin. Belg.: 132 (1824).
Alopecurus agrestis var. scaber Lej., Rev. Fl. Spa: 217 (1825).
Alopecurus agrestis var. segetalis Lej. & Courtois, Comp. Fl. Belg. 1: 57 (1828).
Alopecurus agrestis var. versicolor Biasol., Flora 12: 514 (1829).
Alopecurus affinis Desv., Mém. Soc. Agric. Angers 1: 159 (1831).
Alopecurus agrestis var. decumbens Pauquy, Statist. Bot. Somme: 50 (1831).
Alopecurus agrestis var. lutescens Tinant, Fl. Luxemb.: 75 (1836).
Alopecurus coerulescens Steud. & Hochst., Nomencl. Bot., ed. 2, 1: 60 (1840), nom. nud.
Alopecurus purpurascens Link, Linnaea 17: 400 (1844).
Alopecurus caerulescens C.Presl, Abh. Königl. Böhm. Ges. Wiss., ser. 5, 3: 551 (1845), pro syn.
Alopecurus paniculatus Gueldenst. ex Griseb. in C.F.von Ledebour, Fl. Ross. 4: 465 (1853), pro syn.
Alopecurus creticus Willk. in M.Willkomm & J.M.C.Lange, Prodr. Fl. Hispan. 1: 41 (1861), pro syn.
Alopecurus agrestis var. purpurascens (Link) Nyman, Consp. Fl. Eur.: 794 (1882).
Alopecurus agrestis var. tonsus C.I.Blanche ex Boiss., Fl. Orient. 5: 485 (1884).
Alopecurus agrestis var. viridis Kuntze, Trudy Imp. S.-Peterburgsk. Bot. Sada 10: 247 (1887).
Alopecurus agrestis var. minimus Post, Fl. Syria: 857 (1896).
Alopecurus myosuroides subvar. breviaristatus Asch. & Graebn., Syn. Mitteleur. Fl. 2(1): 130 (1899).
Alopecurus myosuroides var. breviaristatus Asch. & Graebn., Syn. Mitteleur. Fl. 2(1): 130 (1899).
Alopecurus myosuroides var. compositus Asch. & Graebn., Syn. Mitteleur. Fl. 2(1): 130 (1899).
Tozzettia agrestis (L.) Bubani, Fl. Pyren. 4: 274 (1901).
Alopecurus creticus var. submuticus Rohlena, Sitzungsber. Königl. Böhm. Ges. Wiss., Math.-Naturwiss. Cl. 39: 22 (1902).
Alopecurus creticus var. corcyrensis Halácsy, Consp. Fl. Graec. 3: 343 (1904).
Alopecurus agrestis var. pulchellus Adamovic, Denkschr. Kaiserl. Akad. Wiss., Wien. Math.-Naturwiss. Kl. 74: 117 (1907).
Alopecurus myosuroides f. levis Pamp., Boll. Mus. Republ. San Marino 4: 116 (1920).
Alopecurus myosuroides var. versicolor (Biasol.) Roshev., Trudy Glavn. Bot. Sada 39: 191 (1927).
Alopecurus myosuroides var. minor Grossh., Trudy Bot. Inst. (Baku) 8: 174 (1934).
Alopecurus myosuroides var. salinus Grossh., Trudy Bot. Inst. (Baku) 8: 174 (1934).
Alopecurus myosuroides var. latialatus Dogan, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 40: 509 (1983).
Alopecurus myosuroides var. tonsus (C.I.Blanche ex Boiss.) R.R.Mill in P.H.Davis (ed.), Fl. Turkey 9: 384 (1985).
Alopecurus adanensis Dogan, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 45: 111 (1988).
Alopecurus myosuroides subsp. tonsus (C.I.Blanche ex Boiss.) Dogan, Turkish J. Bot. 23: 250 (1999).

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Africa
Regional: Northern Africa
Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia
Continental: Asia-Temperate
Regional: Central Asia
Afghanistan, Assam, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Pakistan, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, West Himalaya
Regional: Western Asia
Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Turkey, Romania, Sicilia, South European Russi, Turkey-in-Europe, Yugoslavia
Regional: Caucasus
North Caucasus, Transcaucasus
Regional: Arabian Peninsula
Saudi Arabia
Continental: Europe
Regional: Southeastern Europe
Albania, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Krym
Regional: Middle Europe
Belgium, Netherlands
Regional: Southwestern Europe
Corse, France, Portugal, Spain
Introduced into:
Alabama, Argentina Northeast, Argentina South, Austria, Azores, Baltic States, California, Central European Rus, Chile South, Czechoslovakia, Delaware, Denmark, District of Columbia, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Japan, Kansas, Kentucky, Korea, Louisiana, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New South Wales, New York, North Carolina, Northwest European R, Norway, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Poland, Primorye, Rhode I., Sardegna, Senegal, South Australia, South Carolina, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tasmania, Texas, Ukraine, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Western Australia

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Hudson, W. 1762. Flora Anglica, exhibens Plantas per Regnum Angliae sponte crescentes, distributas Secundum Systema Sexuale: cum differentiis specierum, synonymis autorum, nominibus incolarum, solo locorum, tempore florendi, officinalibus pharmacopaeorum.: i–[xvi], 1–506, [i]–xxii. BHL Reference page. 23.

Additional references

Chang, C.S., Kim, H. & Chang, K.S. 2014. Provisional checklist of vascular plants for the Korea peninsula flora (KPF). 563 p. Seoul: T.B. Lee Herbarium. PDF Reference page.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2022. Alopecurus myosuroides in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2022 August 13. Reference page.
Hassler, M. 2022. Alopecurus myosuroides. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2022. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2022 August 13. Reference page.
Tropicos.org 2022. Alopecurus myosuroides. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 13 August 2022.
International Plant Names Index. 2022. Alopecurus myosuroides. Published online. Accessed: August 13 2022.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Alopecurus myosuroides in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 2022 August 13.

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Acker-Fuchsschwanz
English: Slender Meadow Foxtail
suomi: Rikkapuntarpää
français: Vulpin des champs
Nederlands: Duist (plant)
polski: Wyczyniec polny

Alopecurus myosuroides is an annual grass, native to Eurasia, found in moist meadows, deciduous forests, and on cultivated and waste land.[2] It is also known as slender meadow foxtail, black-grass, twitch grass, and black twitch.
Description

It can grow up to 80 cm high, often growing in tufts. The leaves are hairless. Leaf sheath is smooth, green to purplish in colour. The leaf blade is pointed, 3 to 16 cm long and 2-8 millimeters wide, green, rough in texture.[2] The spikelets are cylindrical, yellow-green, pale green or purple in colour, and may be 1-12 centimeters long.[3]

It flowers from May to August.[4]
Weed status

In the UK, where it is known to farmers as black-grass, it is a major weed of cereal crops as it produces a large amount of seed which is shed before the crop is cut. It has developed resistance to a range of herbicides used to control it. Herbicide resistance testing is often needed to understand what herbicides will be effective at treating it.[5] It can occur at very high densities, competing with the crop and seriously reducing the yield of crops such as wheat and barley if not controlled.

The seeds have a short period of dormancy and viability, and the numbers may be reduced by surface cultivation after harvest.
References

"The Plant List". theplantlist.org. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
Riches, Charles (November 19, 2019). "Alopecurus myosuroides (black-grass)". CABI Invasive Species Compendium. Archived from the original on 2016-07-16. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
Naylor, Robert E. L. (1972). "Alopecurus Myosuroides Huds. (A. Agrestis L.)". Journal of Ecology. 60 (2): 611–622. doi:10.2307/2258364. ISSN 0022-0477.
Grasses by C E Hubbard, 1978, published by Penguin Books

Burgos, Nilda R.; Tranel, Patrick J.; Streibig, Jens C.; Davis, Vince M.; Shaner, Dale; Norsworthy, Jason K.; Ritz, Christian (March 2013). "Review: Confirmation of Resistance to Herbicides and Evaluation of Resistance Levels". Weed Science. 61 (1): 4–20. doi:10.1614/WS-D-12-00032.1.

UK Weeds Resistance Action Group - advice on Managing and Preventing Herbicide Resistance
Jepson Manual Treatment
Plants of the World Online
USDA Plants Profile
Grass Manual Treatment
USGS Northeast Wetland Flora Profile