MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



Annual, branching at base, some- 

 times geniculate-spreading, 20 to 40 

 cm. tall (or even 1 m.); blades flat, 

 usually less than 15 cm. long and 1 

 cm. wide; panicle erect or somewhat 

 nodding, densely flowered, green or 

 purple, cylindric but tapering a little 

 at the summit, usually less than 10 

 cm. long; bristles 1 to 3 below each 

 spikelet, mostly 3 to 4 times their 

 length, spikelets 2 to 2.5 mm. long; 

 fruit very finely rugose. O — A 

 weed in cultivated soil and waste 

 places, common throughout the cooler 

 parts of the United States, New- 

 foundland^ British Columbia, south 

 to Florida and California, infrequent 

 in the Southern States and in the 

 mountains; Mexico; introduced from 

 Europe. 



725 



Figure 1105. — Setaria viridis, X 1. (Thompson 129, 

 Kans.) 



13. Setaria faberii Herrm. (Fig. 

 1106.) Similar to S. viridis, usually 

 taller; blades softly pubescent to 

 glabrescent; panicle conspicuously 

 nodding; spikelets about 3 mm. long, 

 the second glume shorter than the 

 more rugose fruit. O — Becoming 

 a weed in waste and cultivated 

 ground, apparently spreading rapidly, 

 New York to Nebraska and Arkansas, 

 North Carolina, Kentucky, and Ten- 



FlGUEE 1106. — Setaria faberii. X 1; floret, X 5. 

 (V. H. Chase 8395, Va.) 



nessee. Introduced from China, prob- 

 ably in seed of Chinese millet. 



14. Setaria italica (L.) Beauv. Fox- 

 tail millet. (Fig. 1107.) Cultivated 

 form of S. viridis, more robust, with 

 broader blades and larger lobed pan- 

 icles, the fruit smooth or nearly so, 

 shining at maturity, falling away 

 from the remainder of the spikelet. 

 In the larger forms the culms may 

 be as much as 1 cm. thick and the 

 panicles as much as 30 cm. long and 

 3 cm. thick, yellow or purple; bristles 

 from scarcely longer than the spike- 

 lets to 3 to 4 times as long; fruit 

 tawny to red, brown, or black. The 

 smaller forms are known as Hungarian 

 grass. O — Cultivated in the 

 warmer parts of the United States, 

 especially from Nebraska to Texas; 

 escaped from cultivation in waste 



