Asia has been a very friendly place for foxtails to colonize, spread, grow and evolve
in. Let's start our Asian tour in Japan:
This waste area is located right next to Nagasaki Harbor, in the eastern part of Kyushu
Island. Between the yellow metal gate and the black car are some giant foxtail plants.
This habitat is very close to the epicenter of the A-Bomb detonated in this lovely city
during WWII. I had this hypothesis about mutant A-Bomb foxtails taking over the earth.
Maybe I watched too many 1950's sci-fi movies as a boy. They turned out to be identical
genotypes to our Iowa giant foxtail.
Notice the horsetail on the left side of the picture.
We have gone a bit north in the picture below. This gorgeous little village is south of Hagi City, on the southern end of Honshu Island. This mountainous coastal habitat is on the shore of the Sea of Japan. The plants on the stony beach are a variety of green foxtail call 'pachystachys'.
Below is a closer look at these beautiful, minature foxtails. The panicle is shorter and bushier than our Iowa green foxtail. Most remarkable of all is how these foxtails have adapted to the high salt water content of the stony coastal soil. Maybe this salt-tolerant trait might be a source of crop improvement for the crop Foxtail Millet.
The picture below taken in a parking lot in Nagoya, in the middle of Honshu Island. Giant foxtail thrives here, as evidenced by this interesting prostrate variant. Apparently giant foxtail has adapted to this type of habitat by laying down on the job. Being prostrate and spreading laterally is a good way to capture sunlight and avoid being shaded by neighbors overhead. Foxtail's also seem to have developed resistance to pop cans and trash just like our Iowa foxtails.
East of Nagoya, and directly south of Tokyo, is Yokohama and its famous harbor. Not so famous, but doing very well, is another weed patch of green foxtail living in a unusual habitat in the picture below. Notice the tuft of foxtail plants growing out of a crack in the concrete pier on the edge of the bay. Foxtail plants, like so many weeds, will exploit any opportunity available in the urban landscape.
Below is a foxtail panicle growing on an experimental research farm outside of Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan on Honshu Island. Notice the open architecture of this panicle. Normally foxtail panicle branches (fascicles) are very close together. This could be either giant or green foxtail, or a new hybrid. Only molecular analysis can differentiate species.
In a field near the panicle above, I gathered the 3 different foxtail panicles in the picture below. Their colors range from purple to dark green to light green. Studies in my research lab indicate almost all giant foxtail populations around the world are the same (or very similar) genotype. If they are the same genotype, how come different plants have different colored panicles when grown in the same Kyoto field, the same environment?
To the east of Japan is the Asian mainland. Many believe that giant foxtail arose in China. Certainly many foxtail species have found China a very nice place to live.
Above, yellow foxtail has poked a solitary panicle out of this lush soybean field in Heilongjiang Province in Manchuria, a rich agricultural area in the most northern part of China. The dark, rich prairie-derived soils have provided an excellent habitat for the foxtails, despite the tireless hand weeding that the communal farm members perform there.
The foxtail-looking plants above seem to have found a safe home on the beautiful tiled ceramic roof of one of the interior concentric walls of the Forbidden City in Peking (Beijing). The Forbidden City is the former home of the Chinese Emperor, and consists of several concentric walls. The Emperor lived in the center of this fortress. The roof providing the foxtails a habitat above is directly over the apartments of the Emperor's many concubines. I wonder if these foxtails parents were around when he was? This should remind us once again that weeds will take advantage of any opportunity presented. Personally, I think they make the ancient site more attractive.
