GENERA OF GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
245 
Fruit pale ( yellowish to straw or light brown ) . 
Bristles green. 
Panicle more or less open-lobulate stramineofructa. 
Panicle dense or slightly lobulate at base gcrmanica. 
Bristles brown or purple. 
Bristles brown brunneoseta. 
Bristles purple. 
Panicle more or less lobulate hostii. 
Panicle dense or slightly lobulate at base metzgeri. 
Subsp. rubrofructa Hubb. : The only forms cultivated in the United States 
are var. purpureoseta Hubb., Turkish millet, with purple bristles and a large 
lobulate head; and subvar. violacea (Alef.) Hubb., Kursk millet or Siberian 
millet, with purple bristles and a smaller dense head. 
Subsp. nigrofructa Hubb. : The common form cultivated in the United States 
is var. atra, or Hungarian grass. This has small dense heads 1 to 3 inches long 
with purple bristles. 
Subsp. stramineofructa Hubb., German millet: Plants robust with heads 4 
to 12 inches long and as much as 2 inches wide, the bristles noticeably longer 
than the spikelets. Forma breviseta (Doell) Hubb., Golden Wonder millet, 
differs in having bristles shorter than the spikelets or barely exceeding them. 
Subsp. gennanica (Mill.) Hubb., common millet: Heads mostly 2 to 3 inches 
long, one-fourth to one-half an inch thick, the bristles noticeably longer than 
the spikelets; forma mitts (Alef.) Hubb. with bristles shorter than the spike- 
lets or barely exceeding them. ' There has been an unfortunate misapplication 
of the name German millet. The forms cultivated under this name are not 
the subspecies germanica as one would suppose (see the preceding subspecies). 
Var. brunneoseta Hubb., Aino millet : Head large, lobulate, brown. Subvar. 
densior Hubb. has a compact scarcely lobulate head. 
Yar. hostii Hubb., German millet : Head large, lobulate, purple ; differs from 
the other form of German millet (subsp. stramineofructa) in having purple 
bristles. 
Yar. metzgeri (Kornicke) Hubb., common millet: Bristles noticeably longer 
than the spikelets ; differs from the other form of common millet ( subsp. ger- 
manica) in having purple bristles; sometimes called Hungarian grass, a name 
which should be applied to subsp. nigrofructa. 
125. Pennisettjm Rich. 
Spikelets solitary or in groups of two or three, surrounded by an 
involucre of bristles, these not united except at the very base, often 
plumose, falling attached to the spikelets; first glume shorter than 
the spikelet, sometimes minute or wanting; second glume shorter 
than or equaling the sterile lemma; fertile lemma chartaceous, 
smooth, the margin thin, inclosing the palea. 
Annual or perennial, often branched grasses, with usually flat 
blades and dense spikelike panicles. Species about 50, in the tropical 
regions of both hemispheres ; 1 species in southern Florida. 
Type species: Pennisetum, typhoideum Rich. 
Pennisetum Rich., in Pers. Syn. PI. 1: 72. 1805. Five species are described, 
P. typhoideum, P. setosum, P. cenchroides, P. orientate, and P. wolaceum. 
Pennisetum typhoideum, being a well-known economic species, is chosen as the 
type. 
