Panicum frumentaceum Roxb., Fl. Ind. 1: 307. 1820.
Annuals; culms stout, to 10 mm in diam., less than 120 cm high. Blades linear, acuminate, scabrous,
10-40 cm long, 10-20 mm wide, margins cartilaginous, white; ligule absent; sheath glabrous, loose,
shorter than internode. Panicle erect, main axis ridged, stout, ridges scabrid, tubercle bristled; branches
curved, densely flowered. Spikelets usually purplish, broadly ovate, 3-4 mm long, awnless or sometimes
mucronate; lower glume small, 1/3-3/5 as long as spikelet; upper glume slightly shorter than
spikelet, usually awn-tipped, lower lemma staminate; upper floret protruding above glumes when
mature, mucronate, smooth and shining, margins inrolled, enveloping upper palea, but upper part free.
TAIPEI: Taipei, Shimada 718.
Widely cultivated in the warmer parts of Asia and Africa.
