Weeds
Setaria pumila (Poir.) Schult. - Yellow foxtail.
Synonyms.
Panicum lutescens Weig., Setaria lutescens (Weig.) F.T. Hubb., S. glauca auct.yellow bristle-grass, yellow pigeongrass.
Systematic position.
Family Poaceae (Graminea), genus Setaria Beauv.Biological group.
Annual late spring weed.Morphology and biology.
Plant 4-50 cm in height, more or less ramified at base. Stalks upright, bare, rough below inflorescence. Leaves broad-linear, bluish gray, to 12 mm in width, rough from above. Inflorescence cylindrical, dense, to 10 cm in length. Spikelets positioned on short peduncles, uniflorous, ovoid, about 3 mm in length, surrounded by rough yellow or reddish setulae exceeding spikelet by 2-3 times. Floral scales of fruits gristly, blunt, distinctly transverse-rugate from outside view. Roots filamentous, 30-50 cm (sometimes more than 1 m) in length. One plant produces 3-4 thousand seeds. Reproduction by seeds. Seeds sprout at temperature 20-30°C. Shoots appear from April to late autumn. Blossoming from June, fructification from July. Upon stalk breaking the shoots quickly grow again from the radical part.Distribution.
The European part of Russia, the Caucasus, West and East Siberia, the Far East, Central Asia. Reaches northern border of agriculture lands.Ecology.
Drought resistant. Prefers steppe and dry meadows; grows in fields and fallow lands, at roads and settlements, more often on sandy soils.Economic significance.
Weed in crops of mainly tilled and also grain cultures (wheat, oat). As dense herbage it strongly dries up soil, complicating the soil treatment. Control measures include stubbling, harrowing, inter-row treatment of soil, chemical weeding.Reference citations:
Grin.ko N.I., Titov A.Kh., Kvartin V.N., Semernikova A.I., Lapchenkov G.YA., Dyatlenko V.A. 1987. Weed plants and its control in the Rostov Region. Manual. Persianovka: Donskoi SKHI. 102 p. (In Russian)Gubanov I.A., Gubanov I.A., Kiseleva K.V., Novikov V.S., Tikhomirov V.N. 2002. The illustrated keys to plants of Middle Russia. Moscow: KMK. V. 1: 526. (In Russian)
Korchagina V.A., Penchukov V.M. Morozov N.A., Smashevskaya G.A., Kolomiitsev F.B., Trubeeva A.I., Baranova M.M. 1972. Control of weeds in the Far East. Khabarovsk: Khabarovskoe Publishing House. 18 p. (In Russian)
Nikitin V.V. 1983. Weed plants of the USSR flora. Leningrad: Nauka. 454 pp. (In Russian)
Ramenskii L.G., Tsatsenkin I.A., Chizhikov O.N., Antipin N.A. 1956. Ecological evaluation of the fodder lands by vegetation cover. Moscow: Selkohzgiz. 472 pp. (In Russian)
Shishkin B.K. 1963. Botanical atlas. Moscow & Leningrad: Izdatel.stvo sel.skokhozyaistvennoi literatury i plakatov. 311 p. (In Russian)