Foxtail Plant Awn

A foxtail awn is the sharp barbed seed head of a grassy plant or type of wild barley.

Foxtail plant awn.

Foxtail plants are a weed type grass that can cause serious problems for dogs. Because these tough seeds don t break down inside. It is mostly found in the western half of the u s. A foxtail is a spikelet or cluster of a grass that serves to disperse its seeds as a unit.

I m not aware of the ability for a foxtail to penetrate the cribriform plate and enter the brain but i guess one can never say never. Foxtail s usually an annual plant but can be perennial too. Nimblewill is another plant with potentially dangerous awns. It grows in any condition moist or dry soil and its very tolerant.

They can even simply dig themselves directly into a patch of skin. These weedy grasses form seed pods that dry out and scatter in the summer. These grasses can be found throughout north america and are especially prevalent in the western united states. Flourishing in the summer months these annoying weeds are designed to burrow which can lead to pain infection and sometimes more serious issues.

Foxtail awns are barbed razor sharp needles designed to burrow into the ground with the seed. The danger of foxtails goes beyond simple irritation. Other common names for foxtail type grasses include cheatgrass speargrass bromegrass and needlegrass. It s a wide leaf blades type of weed similar to the turfgrass.

Foxtail is a generic term that s often applied to several species of wild grasses but is specifically associated with a type of wild barley hordeum jubatum that is indigenous to the western united states. They can attach to your dog s coat and burrow into your dog s ears nose and paw pads. Some grasses that produce a foxtail are themselves called foxtail also spear grass. Thus the foxtail is a type of diaspore or plant dispersal unit.

They can become a health hazard for dogs and other domestic animals and a nuisance for people. Common examples of these weeds include foxtail and cheatgrass. The sharp needles on the seed heads of the foxtail plant can also work their way into any part of your dog from the nose to between the toes and inside the ears eyes and mouth. Foxtail barley one known hazard occurs most commonly in the western states but is now found throughout the united states.

The foxtail plant is a grass like weed. The applied nomer foxtail describes the bushy cluster of seed awns characteristic of these plants. Like foxtail nimblewill is regarded as a weed and is not purposefully cultivated.