What plant is foxtail grass? Get to know this common wild grass
Foxtail grass is also known as Arhat grass, barnyard grass, green foxtail and so on. It is an annual herbaceous plant of the genus Setaria in the grass family, distributed throughout China, native to the temperate and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, and now widely spread across the temperate and subtropical regions of the world. Its flower meanings include fortitude, being misunderstood, difficult love, and secret love. Braid three stalks of foxtail grass into a plaited braid, bend it into a loop according to the size of the finger, tie it into a knot, and wear it on the finger to represent a private pledge of lifelong commitment.
The roots of foxtail grass are fibrous, and tall plants have prop roots. The culms are erect or geniculate at the base, 10-100 cm tall, with a basal diameter of up to 3-7 mm. The leaf sheaths are loose, hairless or sparsely covered with soft hairs or papillose hairs, with longer densely cottony cilia along the edges. The leaf blades are flat, narrowly triangular-lanceolate or linear-lanceolate. The panicle is dense and cylindrical, or slightly separated at the base, erect or slightly curved and drooping, with the rachis covered in longer soft hairs. The fruit is grayish white, and the flowering and fruiting period is from May to October.
Foxtail grass grows in wastelands and roadsides below 4000 m altitude, and is a common weed of dryland crops. The suitable temperature for seed germination is 15-30°C. It spreads by wind, irrigation water and harvested crops, germinates after overwintering dormancy, has strong adaptability, tolerates drought and barren soil, and can grow in both acidic and alkaline soils.
Foxtail grass is a common harmful weed, damaging dryland crops such as wheat, millet, corn, cotton, beans, peanuts, tuber crops, vegetables, sugar beet, potato, nurseries and fruit trees. When it occurs severely, it can form a dominant population densely covering the field, competing for fertilizer and water, causing crop yield reduction. It is also a host for many pests such as leafhoppers, thrips, aphids and cutworms.
The culms and leaves of foxtail grass are plants that cattle, donkeys, horses and sheep love to eat. The dried grass in autumn can also be used as fuel for lighting fires to boil water and cook, and for heating and bedding. The spikelets can be used to extract furfural. The whole plant contains 2.6% crude fat, 10.27% crude protein, 34.55% nitrogen-free extract, 34.40% crude fiber and 10.60% crude ash. After adding water and boiling for 20 minutes, the filtrate can be sprayed to kill vegetable pests.