Yellow Foxtail (Setaria pumila), fam. Poaceae.
   An annual plant – a weed with fluffy, flexible spikes. In the southern regions it is obvioulsy replaced by another species – Green Foxtail (Setaria viridis), which has even softer spikes and more pleasant to touch. Whereas our species has relatively large grains and yellowish tint of the hairs in the spikes. Foxtail blooms all the summer, easily bears heat, droughts and soil deficit (for example, it survives even in asphalt cracks). Young plants are good fodder for cattle, but after blooming it becomes too coarse. Quite large grains suggest a thought – what if they can be gathered and used somehow? Really, a related species – Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica) is a grain crop. However, its grains have too tough shells to be consumed by humans regularly, but they provide a good fodder, especially for poultry.

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