Alopecurus aequalis aka Orange Foxtail

Alopecurus aequalis is a grass in the Poaceae family. Its common names include orange foxtail and short-awn foxtail. Kew places its native range across the temperate Northern Hemisphere, extending to the Andes. The RHS records it as native to Britain and Ireland. It also lists Alopecurus fulvus as a synonym. This is a plant of wet ground within temperate regions.

Plants For A Future gives its height as 1 foot (0.3 metres). The sources differ on how long the plant lives. Kew lists it as annual or biennial. Plants For A Future describes annual and perennial forms. The supplied species accounts give no spread measurement. They also give no species-level detail about its leaves or stems. Flowers appear from May to June, according to Plants For A Future. Each flower has both male and female organs. Wind carries the pollen.

Its habitats include wet meadows, pond margins, and ditch edges. In cultivation, it needs moist to wet soil. It can grow in full sun or partial shade. Plants For A Future lists sand, loam, and clay as suitable soils. It also accepts mildly acid, neutral, and mildly alkaline ground. These needs suit a wet meadow or bog garden. The supplied accounts give no cold-hardiness rating. Plants For A Future suggests direct sowing in April, with a thin soil covering. It presents this as a suggestion, not a tested method.

The seeds are edible when cooked, but they are very small. Harvesting enough for a meal takes much work. They can be cooked whole or ground into flour. That flour can be mixed with other cereals for bread. The source treats the grain as food for times of shortage. It notes little documented history of human use. It considers the plant more useful as livestock forage. Plants For A Future reports no known hazards; this is not a full safety assessment.

Plants For A Future records medicinal uses of the whole plant. These include use for swelling, chickenpox, and snakebite. Those records do not establish safe or effective treatment. The plant can also grow as a weed among cereal crops. It may harbour pests that affect those crops. This warning matters despite the same source's separate negative weed flag.