# rattail sixweeks grass

*Festuca myuros*

It earned the name 'sixweeks grass' due to its incredibly rapid life cycle, rushing from germination to seed production in a brief window of spring moisture.

- **Taxonomy:** Plantae › Tracheophyta › Liliopsida › Poales › Poaceae › Festuca
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** grassland
- **Habitat:** Pastures, roadsides, disturbed soils, and open dry grasslands.
- **Diet:** Photosynthetic (requires sunlight, water, and soil minerals).
- **Range:** Europe, North Africa, Temperate Asia, North America, Australia
- **Size:** Stems ranging from 10 to 70 cm in height.
- **Lifespan:** Annual (less than 1 year)
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** No major threats; highly adaptable and often considered an invasive weed in its non-native range.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. You can approach and touch this grass safely at any distance. Its sharp seed awns can cling to clothing and pet fur; simply brush them off to avoid minor physical irritation.

## About

Vulpia myuros , the annual fescue , or rat's-tail fescue , is an annual grass species of the genus Vulpia . It was probably originally native to Eurasia, but it can now be found nearly worldwide as a naturalized species.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/9e7ee0a5-23c7-4be0-848e-c3f7298ecf1d
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/77140
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festuca myuros
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/509720325/medium.jpg (marius, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.