Look out for farmer’s foxtail

If you have a pet or like to hike, you may know the plant called farmer’s foxtail. Farmer’s foxtail, also called hare barley, is the grass species Hordeum murinum subspecies leporinum. It’s a winter annual that grows throughout California, except for the Klamath Mountains in the far north of California. Winter annual grasses germinate in fall, grow through the winter, produce seed and die the following season. Foxtails grow on roadsides, fields, annual grassland, oak savannas, open hillsides, agricultural crops, waste places and other disturbed sites.

The structure of the spikelets is the cause of the problem for pets and the socks of hikers. The barbs on the spikelets permit it to move only in one direction. This adaptation is great for seed dispersal but may warrant a visit to the veterinarian for your pet.

— katie martin, UC Marin Master Gardeners