22 



[J AS. 1907. 



EDIBLE PRODUCTS. 



Notes on Some of the Dry Grains Cultivated in Ceylon. III. 



By J. F. Jowitt. 



Setaria glauca, Beauv., Kawalu, S. Kaooloo, S., as given by Trimen does 

 not appear to be the correct Sinhalese rendering for this grass ; two educated 

 Sinhalese when asked, knew it not, but recognised Kawalu, the name under which 

 I received it from Hettimulla, near Kegalle. Ka = edible — Wal = grass, S. 



It does not appear to have a Tamil synonym. 



Setaria glauca, Beauv., is an erect grass with long, linear, flat leaves ; 

 the panicle 1—4 in., cylindric, dense flowered, the pedicels bearing the spikelets 

 being involucelled by several rigid pale or reddish bristles, the teeth on which 

 are erect or spreading. The seed is ovoid, pale, dorsally convex, closely 

 transversely wrinkled. 



Kawalu is a cosmopolitan weed and does not seem to be generally culti- 

 vated ; received only as a cerial from Hettimulla, Province of Sabaragamuwa, 

 though many plants of it came up in beds sowed with seeds of other cereals, 

 chiefly in those of Amu, Paspalum scrobiculatum, seed of which was received 

 from Jaffna. I also found it in a plot of mixed cereals, Maize, Tanahal and 

 Kurakkan on the outskirts of Badulla in January last. 



I am told that it is not cultivated alone but unintentionally with Amu; 

 it grows in abundance, the grain is collected and used for making a thick conjee. 

 It flowers before Amu, hence the Sinhalese proverb, " Amuwatta essera Kawalu 

 poodinawa," used in the event of a low caste man becoming more prosperous than 

 one of better class. Kawalu being looked upon as a weed. 



Setaria italica, Beauv., cultivated in Ceylon under the names of Tanathanai, 

 Tanakal, S. , and Tinai or Tinai Chamai, T. 



The Maniagar of Delft reports that there are two varieties, a black and a 

 red, I have not seen the former. It is known in Europe as Hungarian grass and 

 Itallian Millet. 



Hackel says there are sixteen varieties which " may be divided into two 

 main groups ; large Millet, with long, usually irregular, nodding false spikes " 

 (this is the variety under review) and " Mohar " (Hungarian) with short, regular, 

 upright spikes." 



Setaria italica grows some three feet or more in height, from a decumbent 

 branching base, the leaves are broad and the panicle (false spike) contracted, 

 6 inches long and as thick as the thumb. 



The seed as sown, that is, the true seed "Caryopsis" enclosed in the 

 flowering glume and palea, is oval, about T V of an inch long, straw coloured, shin- 

 ing, indistinctly marked by three veins on its dorsal or convex side and by two on 

 its ventral or flattened side. It can be identified from any other grain, as pointed 

 out by Hackel, by a smooth place at the base of the flowering glume, not shining, 

 enclosed by two slight longitudinal swellings. 



Hackel says of it, "The culture of Setaria italica, Beauv., has its origin in 

 prehistoric times. As early as 2,700 B.C. Hungarian grass formed one of the main 

 cereals of^the Chinese, it was sown in eai*ly spring by the princes of the royal house 

 themselves, just as the Emperor sowed rice|with his own hand. The culture extends 



