Digitaria cruciata

Family: Poaceae

What it is like

A millet grass. It grows each year from seed. Plants often lie along the ground. Plants form tillers. Plants can root at the nodes. Stems can be 130 cm long. The leaf blade is narrow and 21 cm long by 1 cm wide. It has a rough surface. The flowering shoots consist of 2-10 stalked flowers being produced up the stem. These flower stalks can be 15 cm long. The fruit is dry, one seeded and very small. It the cultivated form the grain does not shatter easily.

There are about 250 Digitaria species.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows on poor shallow soils with more than 400 mm of rain each year. It grows in the wet tropics of NE India. It is grown by the Khasi people of Assam and the hill tribes of Vietnam. In China it grows in upland grasslands between 1,000-2,700m above sea level.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, Bhutan, China, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Myanmar, Nepal, SE Asia, Tibet, Vietnam

How it is used for food

The husks of the grains are removed and the seed is boiled like rice or ground into flour. It can be used for bread of porridge.

Edible parts

Seeds, cereal

How it is grown

Plants are grown from seed. Plants are sown close together.

Plants take 4 months to be ready to harvest. The crop is harvested by tying into sheaves to dry then threshed. The grains are hulled in a mortar then winnowed.

Its other names

Local names

Kewari, Raishan, Sheri

Synonyms

Panicum cruciatum Nees ex Steudel; Paspalum sanguinale Lamk. var. cruciatum J.D.Hooker;