HOW TO KNOW THE GRASSES 



7a. Upper surfaces of leaves glabrous 8 



7b. Upper surfaces of leaves covered with soft hairs. Fig. 287. 



NODDING FOXTAIL Setaria faberii Herrm. 



Annual; tufted; culms up to 2.5 m. tall; 

 spikelets 2.6 — 2.9 mm. long. This species 

 looks much like green foxtail, but is usually 

 larger and has more drooping, larger pani- 

 cles. The velvety leaf blades are a good 

 mark of recognition. Although known in 

 North America for only about twenty years, 

 nodding foxtail is already a bad weed in 

 parts of the eastern and middle western 

 states. Corn, soybean, and red clover fields; 

 gardens; disturbed soil, especially on river 

 bottomlands. July — September. Introduced 

 from China. 



Figure 287 



8a. Spikelets dropping from the plants whole 9 



8b. Fertile floret when ripe "shelling out" of the glumes and sterile 

 lemma, leaving them attached to the plant. Fig. 288. 



FOXTAIL MILLET Sieiaria italica (L.) Beauv. 



Annual; tufted; plants stout, often 1 m. 

 or more tall, with large, often definitely 

 lobed panicles. Foxtail millet is regarded 

 as being closely related to the wild green 

 foxtail. The fertile lemma is variously yel- 

 low, orange, red, brown, or blackish. Mil- 

 let is cultivated to a small extent as a 

 forage and grain crop. It is sometimes 

 found persisting after cultivation or as a 

 stray in the wild. Introduced from the Ori- 

 ent. July — October. 



Figure 288 



152 



