Alopecurus

Genus, in the family Gramineae, of annual or perennial grasses known as foxtails.

Pernennial varieties include A. pratensis, meadow foxtail, an important cultivated meadow grass throughout all of Europe which provides an early harvest of quality fodder; A. geniculatus, marsh foxtail, a common weed found throughout most of Europe, except in southeastern parts; A. bulbosus, tuberous foxtail; and A. alpinus, Alpine foxtail. A. myosuroides, black twitch, is annual, and is distributed intermittently throughout Europe (where it is a common weed found with cereal rape and other crops) and western Asia, and has been introduced to North America and New Zealand.