Meadow Foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis)
- This is a perennial grass with long, cylindrical flower heads (also known as panicles or inflorescences) which look like furry fox tails.
- It is common in clumps on Cowbar, especially on the south verges of Cowbar Lane.
- Many new strains have been introduced from abroad, but the native strains from old grassland are succulent and make good grazing for livestock. Some farmers plant it as a hay crop.
- It remains green throughout the winter and is one of the first grass species to flower each year.
- It can be confused with Timothy grass (Phleum pratense) which is coarser and flowers later in the year. The shoot bases of Timothy grass are swollen like an onion and those of meadow foxtail aren’t.
- Meadow foxtail has single awns – long thin hair like bristles which stick out beyond the ends of each spikelet. Timothy grass has no awns but it does have twin ‘devil horn’ like projections.
- Meadow foxtail is a food plant of the caterpillars of the Essex skipper butterfly.
- As a long grass, it also provides an important habitat for a variety of invertebrate species: bumblebees build their nests in the long grass; carder bees nest in holes, hidden by the stalks.
