| Table 1. Characteristics of Bristly, Green, Yellow, and Giant Foxtail1 | |||||
| Name | Leaf blade | Ligule | Seed head | Stem | Other |
| Bristly foxtail S. verticillata |
10-40 mm long. 5-20 mm wide. Sometimes hairy at base. |
1-2.2 mm. Fringed membrane. |
2-11 cm long. 0.6-1.5 cm wide. |
Glabrous, many branches at base, round. | Seed head bristles downward. Barbed. |
| Green foxtail S. viridis |
30 cm long. 5-15 mm wide. No hairs. |
2 mm long. Membrane fringed with hairs. |
Cylindrical panicle tapering to head. |
Glabrous and possibly bent at the nodes and round. Also maybe branched at base. |
3 or less bristles per spikelet. |
| Yellow foxtail S. glauca |
30 cm long. 4-10 mm wide. Hairs at base to mid way up the leaf. |
2 mm long. Membrane fringed with hairs. |
Cylindrical panicle. 3-15 cm long. Can be yellowish when mature. |
20-130 cm long. |
5 or more bristles per spikelet. |
| Giant foxtail S. faberi |
10-30 cm long. 3-20 mm wide. Hairy upperside. |
1.5-2 mm long. |
5-20 cm long. 1-2.5 cm wide. Cylindrical panicle. Generally nodding. |
Round | 3-6 bristles per spikelet. Nodding seed head. |
| 1Information referenced from the Southern Weed Science Society's Weed I.D. book and can be obtained through: Weed Science Society of America, PO Box 1897, Lawrence, KS 66044-8897. |
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