Alopecurus arundinaceusPoir.

Creeping Foxtailcreeping meadow foxtail

WFO wfo-0000845457 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Alopecurus arundinaceus, photographed by Matt Lavin
fig. a Matt Lavin, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-06-06 / obs. 155141422
Alopecurus arundinaceus, photographed by Liubov Ilminska
fig. b Liubov Ilminska, CC0 1.0 / obs. 197255764
Alopecurus arundinaceus, photographed by Yurii Basov
fig. c Yurii Basov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 94759636
Alopecurus arundinaceus, photographed by Yurii Basov
fig. d Yurii Basov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 87283850
Alopecurus arundinaceus, photographed by Matt Lavin
fig. e Matt Lavin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 155142354
Alopecurus arundinaceus, photographed by Dmitriy Bochkov
fig. f Dmitriy Bochkov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 57604583
Alopecurus arundinaceus, photographed by Matt Lavin
fig. g Matt Lavin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 155141289
Alopecurus arundinaceus, photographed by Matt Lavin
fig. h Matt Lavin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 155141317

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 61 botanical countries

Regions where Alopecurus arundinaceus is native: Algeria, Morocco, Afghanistan, Altay, Amur, Buryatiya, China North-Central, Chita, Cyprus, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Iraq, Irkutsk, Kazakhstan, Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Krasnoyarsk, Kuril Is., Lebanon-Syria, Magadan, Manchuria, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Palestine, Primorye, Qinghai, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Tuva, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Baltic States, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Krym, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AlgeriaMoroccoAfghanistanAltayAmurBuryatiyaChina North-CentralChitaCyprusInner MongoliaIranIraqIrkutskKazakhstanKhabarovskKirgizstanKrasnoyarskLebanon-SyriaMagadanManchuriaMongoliaNorth CaucasusPalestinePrimoryeQinghaiTadzhikistanTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanTuvaUzbekistanWest SiberiaXinjiangYakutiyaPakistanWest HimalayaBaltic StatesBulgariaCentral European RussiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceItalyKrymNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine
Native distribution of Alopecurus arundinaceus, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Altay ALT
Amur AMU
Buryatiya BRY
China North-Central CHN
Chita CTA
Cyprus CYP
Inner Mongolia CHI
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Irkutsk IRK
Kazakhstan KAZ
Khabarovsk KHA
Kirgizstan KGZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Kuril Is. KUR
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Magadan MAG
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Palestine PAL
Primorye PRM
Qinghai CHQ
Tadzhikistan TZK
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Tuva TVA
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yakutiya YAK
Baltic States BLT EUROPE
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Greece GRC
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Morocco MOR
Pakistan PAK ASIA-TROPICAL
West Himalaya WHM

Not drawn on the map: Kuril Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 558 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -26.4 °C -12.3 °C -4.3 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 16.2 °C 24.3 °C 30.6 °C
Annual rainfall 278 mm 512 mm 798 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 14 mm 65 mm 125 mm

It is found where winters are arctic. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 558 research-grade observations of Alopecurus arundinaceus that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 56 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Alopecurus aquaticus (Dumort.) Tinant
  • Alopecurus armenus (K.Koch) Grossh.
  • Alopecurus arundinaceus f. brachystachys Elenevsky
  • Alopecurus arundinaceus f. breviaristatus H.Lindb.
  • Alopecurus arundinaceus f. longiaristatus H.Lindb.
  • Alopecurus arundinaceus subsp. armenus (K.Koch) Tzvelev
  • Alopecurus arundinaceus subsp. castellanus (Boiss. & Reut.) Rivas Mart., Fern.Gonz. & Sánchez Mata
  • Alopecurus arundinaceus subsp. exserens (R.Arndt) H.Scholz & Henker
  • Alopecurus arundinaceus subsp. subaristatus F.M.Vázquez
  • Alopecurus arundinaceus var. exserens (Griseb.) T.Marsson
  • Alopecurus arundinaceus var. pashkiensis Melderis
  • Alopecurus arundinaceus var. ruthenicus (Weinm.) T.Marsson
  • Alopecurus baikalensis Turcz. ex Ledeb.
  • Alopecurus castellanus Boiss. & Reut.
  • Alopecurus elatior Jacq. ex Hook.f.
  • Alopecurus exaltatus Less.
  • Alopecurus geniculatus var. ventricosus Chevall.
  • Alopecurus intermedius Bock ex Steud.
  • Alopecurus liouvillianus Braun-Blanq.
  • Alopecurus muticus Kar. & Kir.
  • Alopecurus nigrescens J.Jacq.
  • Alopecurus nigricans Hornem.
  • Alopecurus nigricans var. exserens R.Arndt
  • Alopecurus nigricans var. halophilus (Griseb.) Schur

and 32 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.