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Panicum hirticaule

J. Presl.

Sowi millet

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(c) Sue Carnahan, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Sue Carnahan

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(c) Jaxon Lane, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Jaxon Lane

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(c) Steve Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Steve Jones

Panicum hirticaule is a species of grass known by the common names Mexican panicgrass and roughstalked witchgrass. It is also known as the Sonoran millet, and is cultivated as a cereal crop in the American Southwest.

Description

An annual millet grass. It grows 10-80 cm tall. The leaves are hairy and 15 cm long. The flowers are in a branching panicle 12 cm long. The spikelets are rounded.

Edible Uses

The seeds are ground into meal and used to make bread.

Traditional Uses

The seeds are ground into a meal and used to make bread.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Distribution

A tropical plant.

Where It Grows

Caribbean, Central America*, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, North America, Panama, Peru, South America*, USA, Venezuela, West Indies*,

Other Information

It is occasionally cultivated.

Notes

There are about 500 Panicum species.

Synonyms

Panicum capillare var. miliaceum VaseyPanicum hirticaule var. miliaceum (Vasey) BeetlePanicum sonorum Bealand others

Also Known As

Panizo cauchín, Sonora panic

References (8)

  • K. B. Presl, Reliq. haenk. 1:308. 1830
  • Kermath, B. M., et al, 2014, Food Plants in the Americas: A survey of the domesticated, cultivated and wild plants used for Human food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. On line draft. p 604
  • Moerman, D. F., 2010, Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press. p 377
  • Plants of Haiti Smithsonian Institute http://botany.si.edu/antilles/West Indies
  • USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN). [Online Database] National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Available: www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/econ.pl (10 April 2000)
Show all 8 references
  • Wiersema, J. H. & Leon, B., 2013, World Economic Plants. A Standard Reference CRC Press. 2nd Ed. p 492
  • World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
  • Yetman, D., 2002, The Guarijios of the Sierra Madre: Hidden People of Northwestern Mexico. University of New Mexico Press. p 219

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