Millets

Millets
Hairy millet ( Panicum capillare )
Systematics
Monocots Commelinids Order : Sweet grass (Poales) Family : Sweet grasses (Poaceae) Subfamily : Panicoideae Genre : Millets
Scientific name
Panicum
L.

The panicle millets or just millets ( Panicum ) are a genus of sweet grasses (Poaceae). The proso millet ( Panicum miliaceum ) is or was an important crop . Panicum is an ancient plant name and is derived from Latin panus = "panicle of millet".

features

The pangrass are annual or perennial plants . Their leaf sheaths are open to the base and often hairy protruding. The ligule is a membranous and ciliate border or a lash line. The leaf blades are mostly flat, less often folded or ciliate.

The inflorescence is a spread to contracted panicle. It is profuse, mostly drooping towards maturity. The spikelets are two-flowered, the lower flower is mostly stunted or male. The upper flower is hermaphroditic. The spikelet is compressed from the back or also with round petioles, it falls off as a whole. Awns are missing. The two glumes are membranous, the lower one is significantly shorter than the spikelet, sometimes stunted, the upper is the same length as the spikelet. The lemma of the lower florets is membranous and similar to the glumes. The lemma of the hermaphrodite flower is clearly arched, and when the fruit is ripe it is thickened with cartilage. The palea is also thickened cartilaginously at maturity, it has two broad, thin-skinned side surfaces. There are three stamens . The ovary is bare and carries two pens whose scars protrude below the flowers on the tip side from the spikelets.

The fruits are closely enclosed by the cover and palea . On the side where the embryo lies the fruit is convex, on the navel side it is flattened.

distribution

The genus is native to tropical and warm-temperate areas.

Systematics

The genus Panicum L. belongs within the family Poaceae to the subfamily Panicoideae, Tribe Paniceae.

There are around 500 species, of which only four occur naturally in Europe. Some species have been introduced to Europe.

Panicum antidotale

Millet ( Panicum miliaceum )

Switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum )

The species found in Central Europe are:

• Hairy millet ( Panicum capillare L .; Syn .: Panicum riparium H. Scholz ), homeland: America, cultivated as an ornamental grass and feral
• Late millet ( Panicum dichotomiflorum Michx. ), Neophyte from Argentina since around 1980
• Hillman millet ( Panicum hillmanii Chase ), neophyte from North America since around 1970
• Smooth millet or South African millet ( Panicum laevifolium Hack. ), Neophyte from South Africa since around 1980.
• Millet ( Panicum miliaceum L. ), probably from Southeast Asia, is cultivated worldwide
• Gattinger millet ( Panicum philadelphicum Bernh. Ex Trin .; Syn .: Panicum gattingeri Nash ): The home is Canada and the USA.
• Switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L. ), native to North and Central America, cultivated as an ornamental grass

Other species outside of Central Europe are (selection):

• Panicum antidotal Retz. : It occurs from the Sinai Peninsula to Indochina and is naturalized in America.
• Colorful guinea grass ( Panicum coloratum L. ): It occurs from Egypt to South Africa.
• Panicum effusum R.Br. , Home: Australia, New Guinea
• Panicum fischeri Bor : It occurs in southwest India.
• Panicum hochstetteri Steud. : It occurs from Sierra Leone to Eritrea and Tanzania.
• Panicum kalaharense Mez : It occurs in southern tropical and southern Africa.
• Panicum longissimum (Mez) Henrard : It occurs in Paraguay.
• Panicum quadriglume (Döll) Hitchc. : It occurs in Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.
• Panicum repens L .: It occurs in the tropics and subtropics of the Old World.
• Kutki millet ( Panicum sumatrense Roth ex Roem. & Schult. ): It occurs in tropical and subtropical Asia.
• Panicum xerophilum (Hildebr.) Hitchc. : It occurs in Hawaii.

The following no longer belong to the genus Panicum :

• Panicum bulbosum Kunth => Zuloagaea bulbosa (Kunth) Bess , it occurs from the United States to Ecuador.
• Panicum ciliare Retz. => Digitaria ciliaris (Retz.) Koeler
• Panicum clandestinum L. => Deer tongue millet ( Dichanthelium clandestinum (L.) Gould ): It occurs in Canada and the USA.
• Panicum crus-galli L. => Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P.Beauv.
• Panicum ischaemum Schreb. => Digitaria ischaemum (Schreb.) Muhl.
• Panicum maximum Jacq. => Guinea grass ( Urochloa maxima (Jacq) RDWebster. ): It originates in tropical and southern Africa, islands in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian peninsula. It is a neophyte in numerous countries, such as the Czech Republic, Spain and Sicily.
• Panicum sanguinale L. => Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop.
• Panicum viride L. => Setaria viridis (L.) P.Beauv.

use

The millet is now grown as crops, particularly in Asia. Panicum laetum and Panicum turgidum are harvested as wild grain in the Sahel.

supporting documents

• Siegmund Seybold (Ed.): Schmeil-Fitschen interactive (CD-Rom), Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2001/2002, ISBN 3-494-01327-6
• Walter Erhardt among others: The big pikeperch. Encyclopedia of Plant Names . Volume 2. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2008. ISBN 978-3-8001-5406-7

Individual evidence

1. ^ Flora of Pakistan , accessed July 18, 2008.
2. ^ Manfred A. Fischer , Karl Oswald, Wolfgang Adler: Excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol. 3rd, improved edition. State of Upper Austria, Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museums, Linz 2008, ISBN 978-3-85474-187-9 .
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o} Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Panicum. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved February 2, 2020.
4. ↑ Brink, M. & Belay, G. (2006) Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 1 - Cereals and Pulses. PROTA Foundation / Backhuys Publishers / CTA, Wageningen.

Web links

Commons : Panicum ( Panicum )  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files