Distribution Map

Vegetative Morphology
Plants	perennial; cespitose.
Culms	9-75 cm.
Ligules	2-6.5 mm, obtuse, puberulent dorsally.
Blades	2-10 cm long, 1-5(8) mm wide.
Upper sheaths	not inflated.
Reproductive Morphology
Panicles	1-9 cm long, 3-9 mm wide.
Glumes	1.8-3.7 mm, connate near the base, pubescent on the sides, keels not winged, ciliate.
Lemmas	1.5-2.5(3.5) mm, connate in the lower 1/3-1/2, glabrous.
Awns	0.7-3 mm, straight, exceeding the lemmas by 0-2.5 mm.
Anthers	0.5-1.2 mm.
Caryopses	1-1.8 mm.

Chromosome Number(s)

2n = 14, 28.

Nativity / Range

Native to temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere.

Typical Habitat(s)

Wet meadows, forest openings, shores, springs, and along streams, as well as in ditches, along roadsides, and in other disturbed sites, from sea level to subalpine elevations.

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Additional Notes

Alopecurus aequalis is the most widespread and variable species of Alopecurus in the Flora region.

Name/Synonymy Publication Info

Alopecurus aequalis Sobol., Fl. petrop. 16 (1799). HOL: LE; Russia: St. Petersburg district.

Alopecurus aequalis Sobol. var. aequalis, Fl. petrop. 16 (1799). HOL: LE; Russia: St. Petersburg district.

Alopecurus aristulatus Michx., Fl. bor.-amer. 1:43 (1803); Alopecurus geniculatus var. aristulatus (Michx.) Torrey, Fl. n. middle United States 1:97 (1823); Alopecurus aequalis subsp. aristulatus (Michx.) Tzvelev in Tolm., Arkticheskaya Flora SSSR 2:36 (1964); Alopecurus aequalis var. aristulatus (Michx.) Tzvelev, Novosti Sist. Vyssh. Rast. 8:20 (1971). HOL: P (P-MICH, sub "Alopecurus breviaristatus"); Canada[, Qu?bec]: Lake Champlain; A. Michaux.

Alopecurus fulvus Sm. in Sm. & Sowerby, Engl. bot. 21:pl. 1467 (1805); Alopecurus geniculatus var. fulvus (Sm.) Schrader, Linnaea 12:424 (1838); Alopecurus geniculatus subsp. fulvus (Sm.) Hartman, Sv. norsk exc.-fl. 11 (1846); Tozzettia fulva (Sm.) Lunell, Amer. Midl. Naturalist 4:216 (1915). HOL: LINN; England: Swainsthorpe.

Alopecurus subaristatus Pers., Syn. pl. 1:80 (1805). HOL: L; Canada.

Alopecurus geniculatus var. natans Wahlenb., Fl. lapp. 22 (1812); Alopecurus aristulatus var. natans (Wahlenb.) Simmons, Ark. Bot. 6:4 (1907); Alopecurus aequalis var. natans (Wahlenb.) Fernald, Rhodora 27:198 (1925). HOL: UPS; Sweden: Lapland; G. Wahlenberg.

Alopecurus caespitosus Trin., Sp. gram. 3:pl. 241 (1829 or 30). HOL: LE; northwest America; D. Douglas.

Alopecurus diandrus Griff., Not. pl. asiat. 3:11 (1851). TYPE: India.: Assam, Brahmaputra River; Mar 1836.

Alopecurus geniculatus var. caesius Neilr., Fl. Nieder-Oesterr. 1:35 (1857). TYPE: Austria.

Alopecurus geniculatus var. robustus Vasey, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 15:13 (1888). HOL: US 996671!; Canada, British Columbia: Vancouver Island; 6 May 1875; J.M. Macoun 128.

Alopecurus howellii var. merrimani Beal, Grasses N. Amer. 2:278 (1896); Alopecurus howellii var. merriami (Beal) Macoun in D.S. Jordan, Fur Seals and Fur Seal Islands of the North Pacific Ocean 573 (1899), orth. corr.; Alopecurus aristulatus var. merriami (Beal) H. St. John, Bot. explor. St. Lawrence 42 (1922). HOL: US 75462!; U.S.A., Alaska: Pribilof Islands, St. George Island; 10 Aug 1891; C.H. "Merriman" [Merriam].

Alopecurus fulvus forma violacea Hackel in Dus?n in O. Nordensk., Wissensch. Erge. Schwed. Exped. Magellansl?ndern 1895-1897, 3⁵:218 (1900); Alopecurus aequalis forma violaceus (Hackel) Parodi, Revista Fac. Agron. Veterin. 7:365, f. 7II (1931); Alopecurus aequalis var. violaceus (Hackel) Mariano in Nicora, Fl. Patag?nica 3:348 (1978). TYPE: [Argentina:] southern Patagonia, in valley above Gallegos River; O. "Nordenskjöld" [Nordenskiöld].

Alopecurus amurensis Kom., Izv. Imp. Bot. Sada Petra Velikago 16:151 (1916); Alopecurus aequalis subsp. amurensis (Kom.) Hult?n, Kongl. Svenska Vetenskapsakad. Handl., Ser. 4, 8:108 (1962) LEC: LE; Russia: Amur, village Kuegra near Nikolaevsk [Nikolajevsk]; 1854; "K.I. Maximovicz" [C.J. Maximowicz] [Tzvelev, Zlaki SSSR 380 (1976)].

Alopecurus aequalis forma fluitans Parodi, Rev. Fac. Agron. Veterin. 7:366 (1931); Alopecurus aequalis var. fluitans (Parodi) Mariano in Nicora, Fl. Patag?nica 3:348 (1978). SYN: [1] Argentina: Tierra del Fuego, Rio Grande; M. Doello Jurado 129; [2] Argentina: Tierra del Fuego, Rio Grande; M. Doello Jurado 131.5.

Alopecurus hitchcockii Parodi, Rev. Fac. Agron. Veterin. 7:366, f. 8 (1931). HOL: US 1256386; Peru: Pasco; 28 Mar 1923; J.F. MacBride 3078.

Alopecurus baptarrhenius S.M. Phillips, Kew Bull. 41:1027 (1986). HOL: K; Ethiopia: Bale province, 3 km west of Dinsho, in ditch, 3100 m; M.G.Gilbert 1818 and N.B. Gilbert.

Alopecurus aequalis var. sonomensis P. Rubtzoff, Leafl. W. Bot. 9:170 (1961). HOL: CAS 425415!; California: Sonoma County, Guerneville Marsh; 7 May 1955; P. Rubtzoff 1821.

Treatment From

W.J. Crins. Alopecurus in Flora of North America, volume 24. In prep. Oxford University Press.

Vegetative Morphology