MILLET 211 



Inflorescence spicate; involucre of Ijristles below each spikelet. 



Grain enclosed in lemma and palet (the hull) at maturity; spike loose, 

 Chcdochloa (foxtail millet and foxtail grass). 

 Panicle usually i centimeter thick or less; bristles commonly green; 



spikelets about 2 millimeters long, C. viridis (green foxtail). 

 Panicle usually i to 3 centimeters thick; bristles usually purple; spike- 

 lets, 2.5 to 3 millimeters long, C. italica (foxtail millets). 

 Grain globose, forcing open the hull as it matures, and falling free when 

 threshed; spike dense, Pennisetum glaucum (pearl millet). 



PENNISETUM GLAUCUM (Pearl MiUet) 



Stem. — The plants are erect, and from 3 to 8 feet tall. 

 The culms are cylindrical and pithy; the upper internodes are 

 smooth, the upper nodes either smooth or short-hairy. 



Leaf. — The leaf sheaths are open and hairy; the ligule is 

 short and fimbriated ; the leaf blade is lanceolate, long-pointed, 

 and long-hairy especially on the upper side. 



Inflorescence. — This is a close cylindrical spike (Fig. 79), 

 6 to 14 inches long and ^^ to i inch thick. The main axis is 

 stiff and thick-hairy. The side branches are hairy, 7 to 8 

 millimeters long, and bear each one to three (commonly two) 

 spikelets, which are surrounded by a cluster of bristles. 

 These bristles fall with the spikelets at maturity. 



Spikelet and Flower — The lower glume is short, broader 

 than long, and truncate; the inner glume is longer, about 

 one-half the length of the spikelet, oval, and three- to four- 

 nerved. Each spikelet has two flowers, the lower stami- 

 nate, the upper perfect. The lemma of the lower staminate 

 flower is oval, and three- to four-nerved; the palet is small, 

 sometimes entirely lacking, the stamens three in number, and 

 lodicules absent. The staminate flower in the spikelet often 

 has both palet and stamens lacking, and in some instances 

 the spikelet has but one flower, the staminate one being en- 

 tirely lacking. In some few instances, spikelets contain two 

 perfect flowers. The lemma of the fertile flower is oval, 



