Annual herb, tufted 20 cm - 2 m tall Leaves: numerous, alternate, two-ranked. Sheaths round in cross-section, densely soft-hairy with deciduous, bumpy-based hairs. Ligules membranous, fringed with hairs (hairs 1 - 3 mm long). Blades 15 - 40 cm long, 0.5 - 2.5 cm wide, parallel-veined. Inflorescence: a branched arrangement of spikelets (panicle), 6 - 20 cm long, 4 - 11 cm wide, with stiff, appressed to spreading branches. Fruit: a caryopsis, indehiscent, enclosed within the persistent lemma and palea. Culm: stout, 20 cm - 2 m long, round in cross-section, internodes often with bumpy-based hairs. Nodes minutely hairy. Spikelets: solitary, found in the upper portion of the inflorescence, 4 - 6 mm long, egg-shaped. Glumes: unequal, herbaceous. Lower glumes 3 - 3.5 mm long, one-half to three fourths as long as spikelets, gradually tapering to a slender point, five- to seven-veined, veins minutely rough towards the apex. Upper glumes 4 - 5 mm long, slightly longer than upper florets, eleven- to fifteen-veined, veins minutely rough towards the apex. Lemmas:: Lower lemmas similar to upper glumes, 4 - 5 mm long, slightly longer than upper florets, nine- to thirteen-veined, veins minutely rough towards the apex. Upper lemmas shiny, with rolled-up margins on the upper surface. Paleas:: Lower paleas 1 - 1.5 mm long, up to half as long as the upper florets, transparent. Upper paleas longitudinally lined. Florets:: Lower florets sterile. Upper florets bisexual, straw-colored to orange or reddish brown or blackish, 3 - 4 mm long, 2 - 2.5 mm wide, pointed at the apex, more or less shiny. Anthers three. Stigmas red.
Similar species: No information at this time.
Flowering: late June to mid-October
Habitat and ecology: Introduced from Asia and cultivated as a forage crop. It occasionally escapes into disturbed ground and is frequent around grain elevators.
Occurence in the Chicago region: non-native
Etymology: Panicum comes from the Latin word panis, meaning bread, or panus, meaning "ear of millet." Miliaceum means millet.
Stout annual 2-6(-10) dm; sheaths overlapping, densely hirsute; blades elongate, rounded at base, 10-20 mm wide; panicle included at base, pyramidal to cylindric, dense, 8-20 cm, often nodding at maturity; spikelets turgid, acute, 4.5-6 mm; first glume half as long, acute or acuminate, 5-veined; second glume and sterile lemma equal, distinctly 7- or 9- veined; fr stramineous to brown, 3-3.5 mm; 2n=36, 54, 72. Native of the Old World, occasionally cult. for forage and adventive along roadsides and in waste places. A wild-adapted type, widespread as a field-weed in the midwest (Wis., Minn., Ill., Io., N.D., S.D., Nebr., Kans., Colo.), has been named ssp. ruderale (Kit.) Tzvelev. It is larger, 7-20 dm, with open panicles 10-50 cm, and deciduous spikelets.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
Common Name: proso millet Duration: Annual Nativity: Non-Native Lifeform: Graminoid General: Coarse annual, branching from lower nodes, stout stems 20-210 cm, hairy at lower nodes, sheaths commonly pilose or hirsute, internodes papillose based. Vegetative: Sheaths terete, densely pilose, with papillose based hairs, blades 15-40 cm long, 7-25 mm wide, pubescent or glabrous; ligule a short, ciliate, membranous collar, 1-3 mm. Inflorescence: Panicle with erect spreading branches 6-20 cm long, 4-11 cm wide, included or shortly exserted at maturity, dense; branches stiff, appressed to spreading, spikelets solitary, pedicels 1-9 mm, scabrous and sparsely pilose, spikelets 4-6 mm, ovoid, usually glabrous; lower glume one half to two thirds as long as the spikelets, 5-7 nerved, upper 11-13 veined, minutely roughened above, slightly exceeding upper florets, fertile lemma 9-13 veined; upper florets 3-4 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide, smooth or striate, stramineous to orange, red-brown or blackish, disarticulating at maturity. Ecology: Found in disturbed areas, often near or closely associated with agriculture. Notes: Often found along the margins of old fields, fast germinating and short growing in late spring, with lower water requirements than any other cereal grains. Is generally a big component in bird seeds. Ethnobotany: Cultivated in Asia for thousands of years. Etymology: Panicum is a classical Latin name for millet, while milaceum means millet like. Synonyms: None Editor: SBuckley, 2010