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Common millet

Panicum miliaceum

Leaf blade

10-20 cm in length and 6-15 mm wide. Leaf blade can be covered with hairs especially on the lower surface.

Auricles

Absent

Importance

Annual cultivated grass grown for fodder and bird seed, also grown as a crop for human food and is an important subsistence crop on marginal soils in parts of Africa and Asia. Dehusked grains are cooked like rice or ground up and used for porridge. In the UK selected species of millet are included in cover crops where it is valued for game and wildlife. The growing of game cover crops may increase the occurrence of this species.

Description

Annual plants which can grow from 20 - 100 cm in height with dense panicles up to 30 cm long, drooping at maturity.

Ligule

Membranous ligule (1-3 mm) surrounded with a ring of hairs.