3. Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv. (foxtail millet, common millet)
Pl. 174 d,
e; Map 704
S. viridis (L.) P. Beauv. ssp. italica (L.) Briq.
Plants annual, with soft bases, without rhizomes. Flowering
stems 35–120 cm long, rarely slightly flattened, glabrous or less commonly
hairy at the nodes. Leaf sheaths rounded on the back to slightly keeled, hairy
along the margins and roughened or somewhat hairy on the surface, the ligule
1.0–2.5 mm long. Leaf blades 6–35 cm long, 5–20 mm wide, flat, the surfaces
roughened or less commonly glabrous. Inflorescences 3–20 cm long, erect or
somewhat nodding or drooping toward the tip, the short branches often slightly
elongate and appearing relatively dense, but distinct (the inflorescence thus
appearing somewhat lobed), not in well‑defined whorls, the main axis with
short, soft, upwardly pointing hairs and often also with longer, soft,
ascending to spreading hairs, the spikelets subtended by 1–3 green, brown, or
purple bristles, these 3–12 mm long. Spikelets 2.6–3.4 mm long, disarticulating
below the fertile floret, leaving the persistent glumes, sterile floret, and
bristles attached to the main axis. Lower glume 0.8–1.4 mm long. Upper glume
2.0–2.6 mm long. Lowermost floret usually sterile, 2.2–3.0 mm long. Fertile
floret with the lemma 2.2–2.8 mm long, the surface smooth and shiny. Anthers
0.5–0.9 mm long. 2n=18. July–October.
Introduced, scattered nearly throughout Missouri (presumably
originally a native of Europe and Asia; cultivated in tropical and warm‑temperate
regions nearly worldwide and escaped sporadically throughout its range). Banks
of streams; also pastures, fallow fields, crop fields, roadsides, railroads,
and open, disturbed areas.
This species has a long history of cultivation in the Old World, where it has been recorded from archaeological excavations of Stone Age
dwellings (Rominger, 1962). It is thought to have been derived by human
selection from a wild ancestor much like S. viridis. In parts of Asia, it is cultivated as a grain crop for human food, but its principal use is for animal
fodder, in the form of both hay and grain. In the United States, S. italica
is cultivated most commonly in the Great Plains. A large number of cultivars
have been developed, based on different selections of various characters,
including degree of inflorescence branching, fruit color and size, and bristle
color and length. This has led to a complex infraspecific nomenclature
(Hubbard, 1915) that is not reviewed here. Also, a large number of common names
are in use for these cultivated variants, including “foxtail millet,” “German
millet,” “Hungarian millet,” and “Italian millet.” It is sometimes referred to
as “Japanese millet,” but that name may lead to confusion with Echinochloa
crusgalli. Similarly, the name “common millet” may lead to confusion with Panicum
miliaceum.