Perennial top grass with creeping runners which remain relatively short and produce upright tillers. This produces a loose tussock. Longitudinal growth variable but up to 150 cm. Very early growing, flowers late May. Occurs in damp grassland and water meadows. Requires large quantities of water and nutrients. Meadow foxtail is able to survive cold weather, late frosts and long periods of snow cover. It does not thrive on dry sites. Neither will it survive regularly grazing. Meadow foxtail is vigorous and high-yielding. The early cut has a correspondingly good feed value of 7. After flowering the feed value diminishes rapidly. Early culm formation means that if large proportions of meadow foxtail are present, the fodder can become overripe and unpalatable. Meadow foxtail is included only in seed mixes designed specifically for damp sites. Due to the slow development of the seedlings, it takes 2 to 3 years to grow a standing crop.
Botanical features
| Leaf | Leaf rolled in the bud, leaf sheath open and glabrous. Leaf blade open and finely ribbed, in the centre of the leaf is a strip with no ribbing. Ligule in the shape of a stiff collar, initially white and green, often turning brown later. Auricles absent. |
| Culm | Culms ascend geniculately from the open tufts. Height 100 to 150 cm. Grows very early in spring and flowers in May. |
| Inflorescence | Cylindrical flower head tapering towards the top and bottom, densely packed spike-like panicle approx. 10 cm long and 10 mm wide. 4–6 spikelets on each side branch which droop downwards. The spikelet is single-flowered, oval and awned. Glumes are hairy and fused together at the base. The lemma has an awn arising from the back. |
| Fruit | The grain is enclosed by the paired glumes. The lemma encloses the caryopsis fully. Palea absent. The 8–9 mm long awn extends above the glumes. TSW 0.7-0.8 g. |