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Published In: Species Plantarum 1: 58. 1753. (1 May 1753) (Sp. Pl.) Name publication detailView in BotanicusView in Biodiversity Heritage Library
 

Project Name Data (Last Modified On 7/9/2009)
Acceptance : Accepted
Project Data     (Last Modified On 7/9/2009)
Status: Introduced

 

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18. Panicum miliaceum L. (broomcorn millet, proso millet, common millet)

Pl. 169 f–h; Map 679

Plants annual, forming tufts. Flowering stems 10–100 cm long, relatively stout, more or less circular in cross‑section, glabrous or hairy. Leaves scattered along the stems. Leaf sheaths rounded on the back, hairy, the hairs sometimes with pustular bases, the ligule 1–3 mm long, a membrane with a fringe of hairs along the margin. Leaf blades 5–40 cm long, 6–20 mm wide, relatively soft, ascending to spreading or arched, sparsely to densely hairy, flat. Inflorescences 4–25 cm long, less than 1/2 as long as the entire flowering stem, 3–4 times as long as wide, remaining attached to the flowering stem at maturity, not becoming a “tumbleweed,” usually somewhat arched or drooping, the primary branches ascending, not spikelike, rebranched 1 or more times, the spikelets not appearing 1‑sided, clustered along the branches, short‑stalked, not curved or angled with respect to their stalks. Spikelets 4.5–6.0 mm long, elliptic‑ovate in outline, narrowed or tapered to a short, sharp point at the tip, glabrous. Lower glume 2.3–3.6 mm long, about 1/2 as long as the rest of the spikelet, broadly ovate, sharply pointed at the tip, 5‑ or 7‑nerved. Upper glume 3.8–5.8 mm long, elliptic, narrowed or tapered to a short, sharp point at the tip, 7–11‑nerved. Lowermost floret sterile and with a short palea, the lemma 4.5–6.0 mm long, elliptic, 7‑ or 9(–15)‑nerved. Fertile floret 2.7–3.7 mm long, elliptic, bluntly pointed at the tip. Anthers 1.6–2.0 mm long. Fruits 2.5–3.5 mm long, narrowly elliptic to elliptic in outline, straw‑colored to light brown at maturity. 2n=36. June–November.

Introduced, uncommon and widely scattered in the state (native of Europe; escaped from cultivation in the eastern U.S. west to Colorado). Fallow fields, railroads, and open, disturbed areas.

A weedy form with somewhat longer stems and more open inflorescences has been called var. spontaneum (Kit.) Tzvelev. This minor variant has not been recorded from Missouri yet. The species is sometimes cultivated for forage in the northern United States.

 


 

 
 
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