Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Alopecurus pratensis L.

Family

Gramineae (South Australia)
Poaceae (Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory)

Common Names

golden foxtail grass, meadow fox-tail, meadow foxtail, yellow foxtail, yellow foxtail grass

Origin

Native to Europe, western and central Asia (i.e. eastern Afghanistan, northern Iran, north-western Turkey, Georgia, central and southern Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), Mongolia and northern China.

Naturalised Distribution

This grass is widely naturalised in the temperate regions of south-eastern Australia. It is most common in Victoria, Tasmania and south-eastern South Australia. However, it is also naturalised in some inland parts of New South Wales, in the ACT, and in some inland districts of southern and western Western Australia.

Also widely naturalised in other parts of the world, including the USA.

Notes

Meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis) is regarded as an environmental weed in some parts of Victoria. This species has been cultivated as a pasture grass in southern Australia and it is mostly a weed of agricultural areas. However, it has also spread into natural vegetation in coastal districts and cooler highland areas.

In Victoria, this species is thought to pose a potential threat to one or more vegetation formations. It is listed as an environmental weed in Banyule City, Knox City and the Goulburn Broken Catchment, and has been recorded from some conservation areas in this state (e.g. in Morwell National Park). It has also been recorded in treeless vegetation in the Australian Alps and from the Mount Buller and Mount Stirling Alpine resorts in north-eastern Victoria. Meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis) is also reported to be an uncommon weed of urban bushland and wetlands around Perth, in south-western Western Australia.