No. 115

Foxtail grasses

Setaria viridis, Setaria pumila and Setaria faberi (also escaped Setaria italica)

green, yellow and giant foxtail, and escaped foxtail millet; also called bristlegrasses

Nut & seed ripe grain (seeds), rubbed from the seed heads; raw, toasted or cooked

Drawing: Britton & Brown, Illustrated Flora (1913)

No modern safety review found. No extension, poison-center, government or peer-reviewed source was found that reviews the safety of eating wild green, yellow or giant foxtail grain; extension pages cover only its weediness and the ergot fungus that can infect its seed heads.

Find

Common in the right habitat

Effort

Quick kitchen prep

ID risk

Careful

Origin

non-native ☆

Safety marks

Spray risk

Uses

Eat raw / salad
Baking & desserts
Flour
Roasted nuts

Season

in season peak

Picking: The rules are unclear. Ask the park. See Where you may pick.

What these mean

Find

1 Everywhere · 2 Common in the right habitat · 3 Patchy · 4 Elusive. This is about how much there is, not whether you may pick it. It is based on iNaturalist sightings within 25 km (about 15 miles) of downtown DC, counted on October 3, 2026. The four rules that each plant’s “Find” reason refers to: (A) the estimate is the confirmed sightings, plus the unconfirmed ones (scaled down where the plant has lookalikes in its genus), plus the sightings marked as planted; (B) the tier by estimate: 1,500 or more is tier 1, 250–1,499 tier 2, 50–249 tier 3, under 50 tier 4; (C) tier 1, Everywhere, also needs a source saying the plant is common in lawns, sidewalks, yards or gardens, vacant lots or towns, or at least one DC street tree of it per km of sidewalk, otherwise it is tier 2; (D) if a reliable source says the plant is rare in this region, or that wild plants rarely bear the harvest, only planted sightings count. iNaturalist is a website and phone app where people post photos of the plants and animals they see. A sighting is “research grade” when other users have confirmed what it is; “needs ID” sightings are not confirmed yet, and “cultivated” ones are marked as planted.

Effort

1 Grab & eat · 2 Quick kitchen prep (under about 30 minutes) · 3 Real work (hours, or cooking needed for safety) · 4 Project (days or equipment). Scored on the simplest worthwhile use; each plant’s page says why.

ID risk

How hard it is to harvest safely. Beginner: no dangerous lookalike, and the edible part is not easily confused with a toxic part. Careful: a toxic lookalike, or toxic parts that end up in the harvest unless removed (for example elderberry stems, unripe ground cherries), or other parts of the plant rated medium-or-higher toxicity, with reliable features to separate them. Expert only: a potentially deadly lookalike that is hard to separate, or (for not-recommended harvests like pokeweed) a plant whose safe preparation can’t be guaranteed. Toxic parts that are obviously separate and thrown away anyway (pits, seeds, skins) don’t raise it; the Toxic parts mark carries that warning.

Native or not, and the invader stars

Origin is where the plant comes from: native, non-native, or mixed (the harvest covers both). The stars rate plants on invasive plant lists: ★★★ Virginia DCR “High” or Maryland prohibited invasive · ★★ Virginia “Medium” · ★ Virginia “Low” · ☆ listed only by the Maryland Invasive Species Council or the Mid-Atlantic Plant Invaders guide (advisory) · no stars: native or not listed.

Safety marks and flags

Deadly lookalike / Toxic lookalike: a cited source names a lookalike of that danger, recorded near DC (an iNaturalist sighting within 25 km, a DC street tree, or a Smithsonian listing for DC) and looking like the part you eat. Other lookalikes are still listed, marked “not recorded near DC” or as not looking like the part you eat. Deadly means a source says eating it may be fatal or calls it deadly, or NC State rates it high severity with life-threatening symptoms (sources sometimes disagree; for example Virginia creeper). Each plant’s Lookalikes list says how to tell them apart; “harmless (may be edible)” lookalikes are listed so you know a mix-up isn’t dangerous. Cook first: cooking is needed for safety (for daylilies it is a precaution, not a sourced requirement). Eat in moderation: a source says to limit quantity or frequency (for example oxalates in sorrels and dock, ginkgotoxin, safrole). Spray risk: a source says the plant is commonly treated with herbicide in parks or lawns (invasive control, lawn weeds) or, for ginkgo, sprayed to stop fruiting. Contamination: a source says the plant concentrates pollutants. Each plant’s Safety flags list gives the details and sources.

Seasons

Start, peak and end are given in thirds of a month: early, mid or late. A plant counts as in season for a month if it is in season at any point in that month. Some greens and roots have a second window, in spring or fall; their page shows each window. A season that runs across New Year is shown as one window.

What it looks like

Green, yellow and giant foxtail are weedy annual grasses topped by dense, bristly, cylinder-shaped seed heads (University of Maryland Extension; NC State). They are wild relatives of foxtail millet, an ancient grain crop, and green foxtail is its wild ancestor (Antiquity). Yellow foxtail has the smallest seed head, held upright, with bristles that turn yellow at maturity; giant foxtail has the largest, which droops or nods; green foxtail’s head is upright, broader and greener than yellow foxtail’s (University of Maryland Extension), though it often nods at the tip (NC State). The whole head turns light tan or straw-tan as the grain ripens (NC State; Nature’s Restaurant). The grains are small, oval and flattened, tan to light brown, about 1.5 mm long in green foxtail and 2.75 mm in giant foxtail (Nature’s Restaurant). Freshly ripe grain is chewy and nutty, and yellow foxtail tastes most like store-bought millet (Nature’s Restaurant). Foxtail millet itself sometimes escapes from cultivation here (Smithsonian checklist); it is the tallest of the group, with seed heads longer than 6 inches and round grain, and Nature’s Restaurant calls it the best of the bunch.

Safety

No toxicity is reported for the grain in the sources checked (NC State; University of Maryland Extension), but no modern safety review of eating it was found. Like other grasses, foxtails can carry ergot, a fungus whose seed-head bodies are poisonous: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension names green foxtail among the wild grasses it infects and says eating ergots in grain or flour can cause illness or death in people. Ergots replace grains and are horn-like, purple-black and 4 to 10 times the size of a normal grain, and the first sign of infection is a sugary yellowish slime on the heads at or soon after flowering (University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension), so look over every head and discard any that carry them. Nature’s Restaurant, a foraging site, warns that too much raw grain can leave a feeling of indigestion because it grows more filling 10 to 15 minutes after eating; no safety source confirms this. Nature’s Restaurant also warns that some other grasses called foxtail, in the barley genus (Hordeum), are dangerous to animals, especially dogs and cats; the grain foxtails are Setaria. The bristles can lodge in the mouths and gums of horses and livestock that eat them in dry hay (University of Maryland Extension); no source reports harm to people. Harmless lookalikes: timothy, whose seed head has no bristles, and crabgrass, whose seed head branches like fingers (University of Maryland Extension). Foxtails are lawn and park weeds treated with lawn herbicides (Penn State Extension), so avoid lawns, parks and roadsides that may have been sprayed.

Lookalikes

Timothy Phleum pratense harmless (may be edible)
Timothy’s seed head may look like yellow or green foxtail’s, but it has no awns (bristles); timothy is a perennial with a bulb-like corm at the base of the stem and a long, membranous ligule, while foxtails are annuals with a fringe of hairs as the ligule (University of Maryland Extension). Timothy is a popular forage grass (University of Maryland Extension).
- Know Your Foxtails (FS-2023-0658; D. D. Joseph and L. Kerner, May 2023) University of Maryland Extension
Crabgrass Digitaria spp. (smooth and hairy crabgrass) harmless (may be edible)
Crabgrass can be mistaken for foxtail before the seed heads form; its seed head is made of finger-like spikes spreading like the fingers of a hand, and it has a membranous ligule instead of the foxtails' fringe of hairs (University of Maryland Extension).
- Know Your Foxtails (FS-2023-0658; D. D. Joseph and L. Kerner, May 2023) University of Maryland Extension

Safety flags

Eat in moderation
Nature’s Restaurant, a foraging site, says not to eat too much raw grain: it grows more filling 10 to 15 minutes after eating, and too much can leave a feeling of indigestion, because the grain is dense and protein-rich. No safety source confirms this.
- Bristly Foxtail (D. G. Mills) Nature’s Restaurant
Spray risk
Penn State Extension says yellow and green foxtail invade low-maintenance lawns, parks, grounds and roadsides and lists preemergence and postemergence lawn herbicides labeled for them, so foxtails in lawns and parks may have been sprayed.
- Lawn and Turfgrass Weeds: Yellow Foxtail and Green Foxtail Penn State Extension
- Know Your Foxtails (FS-2023-0658; D. D. Joseph and L. Kerner, May 2023) University of Maryland Extension

Safety marks and flags: what this means

ID risk: Careful
Why: No toxic lookalike plant is named: timothy (a seed head with no bristles) and crabgrass (finger-like seed-head branches) are harmless (University of Maryland Extension). Rated Careful because ergot, a poisonous fungus that infects green foxtail and other grasses, replaces grains with horn-like, purple-black bodies 4 to 10 times the size of a grain, which end up in the harvest unless each head is checked and infected heads are thrown away (University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension).
Soil risk: low

ID risk: what this means

Soil risk: what this means

Based on the part you eat, following the urban-soil lead guidance on the Field safety page: higher for greens, shoots and roots; moderate for flowers; low for fruit, nuts and sap.

Field safety for every outing (poison ivy, ticks, soil, and more)

When to pick

Starts: early Aug
Peak: mid Aug–late Sep
Ends: late Oct

Foxtails form their seed heads from July to September (Penn State Extension, Pennsylvania), and the grain ripens in late summer and early fall (Nature’s Restaurant). Green foxtail can make several generations in one season, so ripe heads may turn up earlier, but it drops its grain very soon after ripening (Nature’s Restaurant). Gather when the heads turn light tan, before the grain falls (NC State; Nature’s Restaurant). The plants turn brown and die after the first frost in fall (University of Maryland Extension). No source gives dates for the DC area, so all three boundaries are estimates.

How the dates were worked out

Every start, peak and end was re-checked in October 2026. “Sourced” means a source opened during the check states that timing for the DC or Mid-Atlantic area. “Estimated” means no source states it exactly; the reason, the evidence and the source links are under “How the dates were worked out” on each plant’s page. Peaks are often estimated, because few sources name a peak. iNaturalist evidence means research-grade sightings near DC, by month, of the plant at that stage (for example, in fruit). iNaturalist is a website and phone app where people post photos of the plants and animals they see. A sighting is “research grade” when other users have confirmed what it is; “needs ID” sightings are not confirmed yet, and “cultivated” ones are marked as planted.

Season basis: estimated: start, peak, end

Start

estimated: No source dates ripe grain for the DC area; the heads appear from July (Penn State) and the grain ripens some weeks later, and the first fruiting sightings near DC are in August, so early August is the estimated start.

Peak

estimated: No source names a best time for the DC area; mid August to late September is the late-summer ripening that Nature’s Restaurant describes and the months with the most fruiting sightings near DC.

End

estimated: No source gives an end date for the DC area; the plants die at the first fall frost and shed ripe grain quickly, so late October is the estimated end, with few ripe heads left by then.

Evidence

start: Penn State Extension (Pennsylvania): 'Seedheads are produced from July to September'. Nature’s Restaurant (southern Ontario): 'Season: Late Summer to Early Fall'. iNaturalist: the earliest fruiting-annotated research-grade sightings within 25 km of DC are in August (3 of 18). | peak: Nature’s Restaurant: 'Season: Late Summer to Early Fall'. iNaturalist, research-grade within 25 km: fruiting-annotated sightings Aug 3, Sep 10, Oct 4, Nov 1; all sightings Aug 61, Sep 120, Oct 53. | end: Penn State Extension: 'Yellow and green foxtail plants turn brown and die following frost events in mid to late fall.' University of Maryland Extension: 'they have a very low tolerance to frost and turn brown and die after the first frost event in the fall.' Nature’s Restaurant (green foxtail): 'it drops the grain very quickly after ripening'.

Lawn and Turfgrass Weeds: Yellow Foxtail and Green Foxtail Penn State Extension
Bristly Foxtail (D. G. Mills) Nature’s Restaurant
Research-grade observations of green, yellow and giant foxtail and foxtail millet within 25 km of DC, by month (fruiting) iNaturalist
Research-grade observations of green, yellow and giant foxtail and foxtail millet within 25 km of DC, by month (all observations) iNaturalist
Know Your Foxtails (FS-2023-0658; D. D. Joseph and L. Kerner, May 2023) University of Maryland Extension

Where to look

Sunny lawns, fields, roadsides, vacant lots and other disturbed ground, wherever the grass is left unmowed long enough to set seed; it is logged most on the private Glenstone grounds, at Bluemont Park and along Four Mile Run in Arlington, where picking is not allowed, and on the C&O Canal, which allows edible fruits generally but does not say whether grass grain counts (ask the park). Otherwise gather it on private land with the owner’s permission, away from lawns and roadsides that may be sprayed.

Habitats: lawns & sidewalk cracks, disturbed ground & waste places, vacant lots, old fields & meadows

Habitats: what this means

Listed where the plant’s own sources place it in that habitat. “Disturbed ground & waste places” means a cited source places it on disturbed areas, sites, soil or ground, on waste places or waste ground, on construction or abandoned building sites (old home sites count), on rubble or in strip mines. When the source gives examples of the disturbed places, at least one example must be of that kind. Examples that do not count: natural or forestry disturbance (treefall gaps, fire, windthrow, flood scour, old riverbanks and creeks, clear-cuts); roadsides, railroads and rights-of-way; and abandoned fields, pastures and farmland, which are “Old fields & meadows”. “Vacant lots” only where a source says vacant or empty lots.

Most-logged places

None of the most-logged places allows picking.

Ask first: rules unclear or not checked

C&O Canal NHP (towpath, Georgetown to Great Falls MD and beyond)
5 sightings · Legal to pick: ambiguous · see them on iNaturalist
Ambiguous: the C&O compendium allows edible fruits, nuts and berries generally but sets no limit for this one; ask the park first.
University of Maryland, College Park campus
5 sightings · Legal to pick: unknown · see them on iNaturalist
Picking rules not checked.

No picking here (3 places)

Glenstone Museum grounds (private)
9 sightings · Legal to pick: no · see them on iNaturalist
Private property: pick only with the owner’s permission.
Bluemont Park
8 sightings · Legal to pick: no · see them on iNaturalist
Look but don’t pick: Arlington County park rules say flora shall not be removed or disturbed.
Four Mile Run stream valley (Arlington/Alexandria)
8 sightings · Legal to pick: no · see them on iNaturalist
Look but don’t pick: Arlington County park rules (flora shall not be removed or disturbed) and Alexandria’s permit rule both apply.

Most-logged places: what this means

The places with the most research-grade iNaturalist sightings within 25 km of downtown DC (re-counted in October 2026 over every named place, campuses, condominiums and private grounds included), each marked legal to pick or not. A sighting inside several named places counts once, for the smallest of them, but a sighting inside a National Park Service park never counts for a private, campus or unchecked place. iNaturalist shows where people walk and log plants, not true abundance. Private campuses, condominiums, museums, estates and utility land (Pepco’s power-line land near Sligo Creek) are marked “no” (pick only with the owner’s permission); public university campuses, city parks and other places whose picking rules were not checked (county stormwater land, the U.S. Capitol Grounds, Greenbelt’s North Woods, federal facilities such as the National Zoo) are “unknown”. A place needs at least 2 sightings, so plants with very few sightings have no places. At-risk plants (butternut, nannyberry, American chestnut, ramps, riverbank goldenrod) get places like every other plant; each page says why the plant is at risk and gives any advice its sources give. For some places, mostly Rock Creek Park, the iNaturalist map shows more sightings than the count here, because a map link cannot leave out exactly the sightings credited to another place. iNaturalist is a website and phone app where people post photos of the plants and animals they see. A sighting is “research grade” when other users have confirmed what it is; “needs ID” sightings are not confirmed yet, and “cultivated” ones are marked as planted.

Where you may pick

On the C&O Canal, the compendium allows edible fruits, nuts and berries to be gathered by hand for personal use but does not say whether a grass’s grain counts and sets no limit for it, so ask the park first. Virginia state parks allow edible fruits, berries, fungi or nuts to be collected for personal use (4VAC5-30-50) without saying whether grass seed counts, so ask there too. Elsewhere on National Park Service land around DC (Rock Creek Park and other NPS units) gathering is prohibited unless the park designates it, and Rock Creek’s compendium bars gathering fruits, nuts, berries, seeds, mushrooms or cut greenery. Get permission before picking in county or regional parks or on private land. The Maryland Invasive Species Council lists green, yellow and giant foxtail and foxtail millet as invasive, and foxtail seeds spread easily on mowers, shoes and animal fur (Penn State Extension), so take care not to spill seed where they do not already grow.

C&O Canal NHP (incl. Great Falls MD, trail-side only)
Allowed: ambiguous · no limit set for foxtail grain; by hand, personal use; confirm with the park
C&O 2026 compendium 2.1(c)(1): 'Edible fruits, nuts, berries, and mushrooms may be gathered by hand for personal use or consumption.' The limits table that follows does not list foxtail. A grass grain is botanically a fruit (a caryopsis, NC State), but the compendium does not say whether a weed’s grain counts as an edible fruit or nut. Labeled ambiguous, as for velvetleaf, sweet clover and pickerelweed seeds and for ginkgo seeds. Confirm with the park.
Virginia State Parks
Allowed: ambiguous · personal/individual use only; no quantity set (state parks within ~50 km: Mason Neck, Leesylvania); individual parks may post closures
4VAC5-30-50 bars gathering any plant without a permit, except that edible fruits, berries, fungi or nuts may be collected for personal or individual use; a grass grain is botanically a fruit (a caryopsis, NC State) but is not a nut, and the rule does not say whether such grain counts as an edible fruit. Labeled ambiguous, as for velvetleaf, sweet clover and pickerelweed seeds. Confirm with the park.

Where you may pick: what this means

For each park system: “yes” where its current rules (the park’s compendium or regulation) allow this plant or part, with the limit; “ambiguous” where the wording may or may not cover it, so ask the park; “no” where it is not allowed. Rock Creek Park, the GW Parkway sites (including Great Falls VA and Theodore Roosevelt Island), the National Mall, Montgomery and Prince George’s parks, Maryland state parks, and Fairfax and Arlington parks prohibit picking. Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts allows blackberries and raspberries (one gallon per person per day) and chestnuts (one gallon per person per day). National Park Service rules are reissued every year; other parks change theirs from time to time, so check the park’s current rules. The Where you may pick page has every park’s rules.

Every park’s rules

Ways to use it

eaten raw as a snack: rub ripe heads gently over a cloth, blow away the chaff and chew the grain well (Nature’s Restaurant)
cooked like rice or millet: about 2 1/4 cups of water to 1 cup of dried grain, simmered covered for 45 minutes to an hour (Nature’s Restaurant)
ground into flour and mixed into bread flour at about 15% for a nutty flavor (Nature’s Restaurant)
cooked grain mixed with fried onions, garlic, carrots and herbs and shaped into veggie burgers (Nature’s Restaurant)
toasted in a dry pan until the seeds start to pop, then sprinkled on pasta, salads or grilled meats (Grist)
harvest when the seeds turn ivory or the heads light tan: cut the heads into a paper bag, shake it and rub the rest of the grain loose (Grist; Nature’s Restaurant)

Keeping

Gather the heads promptly, before the grain falls, then dry the grain and keep it airtight in a cool, dark place for 4 months to a year.

Use within: months+
Keeps fresh: Green foxtail drops its grain very soon after ripening, so gather the heads promptly (Nature’s Restaurant). Dry the grain and store it like store-bought millet (Nature’s Restaurant), in clean, dry, insect-proof containers in a cool, dry, dark place (general guidance for dried foods; NCHFP).
Keeping basis: general guidance for its type

Ways to keep it

Dry as researched: dry/dehydrate; canning: n/a (not shelf-canned)
Dry the grain and store it like store-bought millet (Nature’s Restaurant); Grist’s forager keeps dried seeds in an airtight container and still had some from the year before. NCHFP: cool dried foods completely, pack them into clean, dry, insect-proof containers and store them in cool, dry, dark areas; recommended storage times for dried foods range from 4 months to 1 year, shorter at higher temperatures.
Freeze as researched: freeze; canning: n/a (not shelf-canned)
Nature’s Restaurant freezes foxtail veggie-burger patties separated by wax paper in small bags.

Canning: what this means

Shelf-stable canning, three levels. Lab-tested: a lab-tested recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) or Oregon State covers this fruit and product, or a generic recipe for its kind (the line says so, for example chokeberry). Extension recipe: a published Extension recipe (University of Alaska Fairbanks, written for Alaska species; University of Maine’s dandelion jelly), or a process that is safe only with a pH meter; follow it exactly, never improvise. No tested recipe: refrigerate or freeze, don’t can. “Hot-bottled syrup” = maple and walnut syrup, which keep when bottled hot at full syrup density. The Canning line names the exact product each source covers, for example “whole berries” or “juice”; a product not named there (such as juice from a berry with only a whole-berry recipe) has no tested recipe.

Keeping basis: what this means

“Specific to this plant” or “general guidance for its type” (for example NCHFP guidance for leafy greens applied to a wild green).

Nutrition

Not researched: in October 2026, only the calendar’s plants of the month and chicory leaves were researched.

Native or not

USDA PLANTS lists all four as introduced in the lower 48. The Maryland Invasive Species Council’s table marks giant foxtail as regulated in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia and yellow foxtail in Maryland and by the USDA; none of the four is on the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s Prohibited Invasive Plant List or its noxious weed list, and none is ranked by Virginia DCR. NC State notes that varieties and subspecies of yellow foxtail, one of them on the federal noxious weed list, are no longer recognized as distinct.

Origin: non-native
Native range: Eurasia (NC State: green foxtail from the Old World, yellow foxtail from Eurasia); giant foxtail and foxtail millet are also introduced (USDA PLANTS)
Invader credit: ☆
Virginia invasive rank: not listed
Maryland invasive status: Advisory (MISC list)

Native or not, and the invader stars: what this means

Virginia DCR, Virginia Invasive Plant Species List (effective September 2024), verbatim: "Under the DCR Invasive Species Assessment Protocol, approved by the Virginia Invasive Species Working Group, January 2024, species were ranked as exhibiting high, medium or low levels of invasiveness based on their threat to natural communities and native species. Invasiveness rank is higher for species that: • Alter ecosystem processes, such as succession, hydrology or fire regime. • Are capable of invading undisturbed natural communities. • Cause substantial impacts on rare or vulnerable species or natural communities or high-quality examples of more common communities. • Are found widely distributed and generally abundant where present. • Disperse readily to new areas. • Are difficult to control." The list also states: "The list is for educational purposes only and has no regulatory authority."

Maryland Department of Agriculture, Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant Law and Regulations page, verbatim: "Plants on the Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant List may not be added to stock after the effective date and should not be sold after their phase-out period ends."

No official DC invasive plant list was found.

How the ratings were set

Find: Common in the right habitat Estimate 840 = 307 research-grade iNaturalist sightings within 25 km + 534 needs-ID sightings counted at 99% (307 of the 310 research-grade Setaria sightings here are green, yellow or giant foxtail or foxtail millet) + 4 'cultivated' (planted) sightings (rule A); that is tier 2 by count (rule B). Final tier 2.
Effort: Quick kitchen prep Rub ripe heads over a cloth or shake them in a paper bag, blow away the chaff, and eat the grain raw or toast it for a few minutes in a dry pan; gathering, drying, rubbing out and winnowing enough grain to cook like millet, then simmering it for 45 minutes to an hour, is a 3.

Find: what this means

Effort: what this means

Sources

30 sources, each linked to the original.

Rock Creek Park Superintendent’s Compendium National Park ServiceBacks up: picking rules
36 CFR 2.1 - Preservation of natural, cultural and archeological resources Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of federal regulation)Backs up: picking rules
C&O Canal NHP Superintendent’s Compendium, effective September 11, 2026 National Park Service, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal NHPBacks up: picking rules
4VAC5-30-50. Flowers, plants, minerals, etc. Virginia Law Library (law.lis.virginia.gov)Backs up: picking rules
Non-Native Invasive Terrestrial Plant Species in the State of Maryland (updates approved through the April 18, 2024 MISC meeting) Maryland Invasive Species CouncilBacks up: picking rules, native or invasive status
Some botanical characteristics of green foxtail (Setaria viridis) and harvesting experiments on the grass (T. L.-D. Lu, Antiquity 72, 1998), abstract Antiquity (Cambridge University Press)Backs up: description
Setaria viridis (Green Foxtail) NC State Extension Gardener Plant ToolboxBacks up: description, habitat, safety, native or invasive status
Setaria pumila (Yellow Foxtail) NC State Extension Gardener Plant ToolboxBacks up: description, habitat, season, safety, native or invasive status
Know Your Foxtails (FS-2023-0658; D. D. Joseph and L. Kerner, May 2023) University of Maryland ExtensionBacks up: description, habitat, season, safety, safety details
Bristly Foxtail (D. G. Mills) Nature’s RestaurantBacks up: description, uses, season, safety, storage, keeping
iNaturalist research-grade observations of green, yellow and giant foxtail and foxtail millet (Setaria viridis, S. pumila, S. faberi, S. italica) within 25 km of downtown DC iNaturalistBacks up: findability
Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv. var. viridis (Green Bristlegrass, Green Foxtail) (Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora) Virginia Botanical Associates (Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora)Backs up: habitat
Setaria pumila (Poir.) Roemer & Schultes ssp. pumila (Yellow Bristlegrass, Yellow Foxtail) (Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora) Virginia Botanical Associates (Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora)Backs up: habitat
Setaria faberi Herrm. (Nodding Bristlegrass, Japanese Bristlegrass) (Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora) Virginia Botanical Associates (Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora)Backs up: habitat
Annotated Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Washington-Baltimore Area, Part II: Monocotyledons (Shetler & Orli, 2002) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural HistoryBacks up: habitat, description
Packaging and Storing Dried Foods National Center for Home Food Preservation (University of Georgia)Backs up: keeping
USDA PLANTS Database: Setaria viridis (SEVI4), native status USDA NRCSBacks up: native or invasive status
USDA PLANTS Database: Setaria pumila (SEPU8), native status USDA NRCSBacks up: native or invasive status
USDA PLANTS Database: Setaria faberi (SEFA), native status USDA NRCSBacks up: native or invasive status
USDA PLANTS Database: Setaria italica (SEIT), native status USDA NRCSBacks up: native or invasive status
Virginia Invasive Plant Species List (effective date: September 2024) Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural HeritageBacks up: native or invasive status
Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant Law and Regulations (Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant List, updated January 2026; additions effective July 15, 2026; 'Next Plants To Be Assessed' 2026-2027) Maryland Department of Agriculture, Plant Protection & Weed ManagementBacks up: native or invasive status
Noxious Weeds in Maryland Maryland Department of AgricultureBacks up: native or invasive status
Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas, Field Guide (Swearingen & Fulton, 2022; successor to the NPS/USFWS 5th ed., 2017) Mid-Atlantic Invasive Plant Council / Passiflora Press (hosted by Bugwood/Mid-Atlantic Invaders Tool)Backs up: native or invasive status
Invasive Plants in the District DC Department of Energy & EnvironmentBacks up: native or invasive status
Ergot of Small Grain Cereals and Grasses and its Health Effects on Humans and Livestock (EC1880; Wegulo and Carlson, 2011) University of Nebraska-Lincoln ExtensionBacks up: safety, effort & ID risk, safety details
Research-grade observations of green, yellow and giant foxtail and foxtail millet within 25 km of DC, by month (fruiting) iNaturalistBacks up: season
Research-grade observations of green, yellow and giant foxtail and foxtail millet within 25 km of DC, by month (all observations) iNaturalistBacks up: season
Lawn and Turfgrass Weeds: Yellow Foxtail and Green Foxtail Penn State ExtensionBacks up: season, safety, picking rules, safety details
Forage for wild seeds today, munch on crunchy granola tomorrow (T. Matsuoka Wong, 2014) GristBacks up: uses, storage, effort & ID risk, keeping