From the rich northern prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, to the
quackgrass choked fields of Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces, the foxtails have
found abundant and rich habitats in which to colonize, spread and evolve.
Below some yellow foxtail seed grow fat in the balmy Ontario sun. Notice the unusual
pigweed inflorescence. It appears to be either a mutant or a developmental deformity that
caused the twisted seedhead and the red coloration. This was probably not due to herbicide
injury.
Bill Taylor, from OMAF, seems to be concerned with the invasion of giant foxtail to southern Ontario in the picture below. This foxtail species invaded and rapidly colonized fields in Ontario, as well as much of the US corn belt, after WWII and the widespread use of herbicides. The rapid increase of giant foxtail in North America is an excellent example of a "population shift" in weed species caused by significant changes in production and management practices.
Canadian farmers shudder when they see the slanting sunlight silhouette the yellow foxtail panicles on a warm late summer evening, worrying about inevitable crop yield losses. I sympathize with them, yet I also find beauty in these pests. Notice also the far less attractive common lambsquarters.
A less common foxtail species in Canadian (and US) crop fields can be seen: bristly foxtail from Ontario. This species is phylogenetically closely related to green foxtail, but its barbed spikelets often results in a tangled mass of panicles like what has happened below. Dispersing seed by hooking onto passing animals and people seems a great way to colonize and spread to new habitats.
