Setaria pumila
(Poir.) Roem. & Schult.
Poaceae
Chaetochloa glauca purpurea Farw.
Chaetochloa lutescens Weigel ex Stuntz
Panicum glaucum flavescens Elliott
Panicum glaucum laevigatum J.Le Conte ex Torr.
Panicum imberbe pumilum (Poir.) Nees
Panicum lutescens Weigel
Panicum pallidefuscum Schumach.
Panicum pumilum Poir.
Panicum rubiginosum Steud.
Setaria aurea rubiginosa (Steud.) Peter
Setaria erythraeae Mattei
Setaria glauca pumila (Poir.) Podp.
Setaria lutescens (Weigel ex Stuntz) F.T.Hubb.
Setaria pallide-fusca (Schumach.) Stapf & C.E.Hubb.
Setaria rubiginosa (Steud.) Miq.
Setaria ustilata de Wit
Common Name: Yellow Bristle Grass
General Information
Yellow bristle grass is an annual, clump-forming erect grass usually growing from 25 - 60 cm tall, but can range from 5 - 130cm.
The edible seed is sometimes gathered from the wild and used locally.
Known Hazards
None known
Botanical References
50- Title
- Flora Europaea
- Publication
-
- Author
- ?
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Year
- 1964
- ISBN
- -
- Description
- An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for Europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.
,
58- Title
- Flora of Japan. (English translation)
- Publication
-
- Author
- Ohwi. G.
- Publisher
- Smithsonian Institution
- Year
- 1965
- ISBN
- -
- Description
- The standard work. Brilliant, but not for the casual reader.
,
200- Title
- The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Huxley. A.
- Publisher
- MacMillan Press
- Year
- 1992
- ISBN
- 0-333-47494-5
- Description
- Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
Range
A cosmopolitan plant, originally from temperate and subtropical Asia and Europe.
Habitat
Waste ground, cultivated fields and lowland all over Japan[
58- Title
- Flora of Japan. (English translation)
- Publication
-
- Author
- Ohwi. G.
- Publisher
- Smithsonian Institution
- Year
- 1965
- ISBN
- -
- Description
- The standard work. Brilliant, but not for the casual reader.
].
Properties
| Weed Potential | Yes |
| Edibility Rating |  |
| Other Uses Rating |  |
| Habit | Annual |
| Height | 0.75 m |
| Pollinators | Wind |
| Cultivation Status | Wild |
Cultivation Details
A world-wide weed, found from the temperate zone to the tropics. In the tropics, it is found in areas where the mean annual rainfall is 500mm or more[
375- Title
- Grassland Species - Profiles
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/Gbase/Default.htm
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Terse information on over 650 species of plants that grow in grassland, including trees, shrubs and perennial plants as well as grasses. Gives a brief description of the plant, its range and habitat and some of its uses.
].
Succeeds in any well-drained soil in full sun[
200- Title
- The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Huxley. A.
- Publisher
- MacMillan Press
- Year
- 1992
- ISBN
- 0-333-47494-5
- Description
- Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
]. The plant is especially well suited to dry soil conditions[
].
The plant has become a weed in many areas of the world, where it infests dryland crops, roadsides, waste areas, ditches and occasionally grasslands[
].
The plant photosynthesizes by a more efficient method than most plants. Called the 'C4 carbon-fixation pathway', this process is particularly efficient at high temperatures, in bright sunlight and under dry conditions[
375- Title
- Grassland Species - Profiles
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/Gbase/Default.htm
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Terse information on over 650 species of plants that grow in grassland, including trees, shrubs and perennial plants as well as grasses. Gives a brief description of the plant, its range and habitat and some of its uses.
].
Edible Uses
Seed - cooked[
105- Title
- Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Tanaka. T. & Nakao S.
- Publisher
- Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo
- Year
- 1976
- ISBN
- -
- Description
- The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
,
177- Title
- Plants for Human Consumption.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Kunkel. G.
- Publisher
- Koeltz Scientific Books
- Year
- 1984
- ISBN
- 3874292169
- Description
- An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
]. It can be eaten as a sweet or savoury food in all the ways that rice is used, or ground into a powder and made into porridge, cakes, puddings etc[
183- Title
- Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Facciola. S.
- Publisher
- Kampong Publications
- Year
- 1990
- ISBN
- 0-9628087-0-9
- Description
- Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
]. The seed contains about 11.5% protein, 6% fat, 40.7% carbohydrate, 8.2% fat[
179- Title
- Famine Foods listed in the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Reid. B. E.
- Publisher
- Southern Materials Centre; Taipei
- Year
- 1977
- ISBN
- -
- Description
- A translation of an ancient Chinese book on edible wild foods. Fascinating.
].
A dust from the fungal infection of plants is eaten[
2- Title
- Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Hedrick. U. P.
- Publisher
- Dover Publications
- Year
- 1972
- ISBN
- 0-486-20459-6
- Description
- Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
,
172- Title
- Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Schofield. J. J.
- Publisher
- Alaska Northwest Books; Alaska
- Year
- 2003
- ISBN
- 0882403699
- Description
- A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.
].
Medicinal
None known
Agroforestry Uses:
In some areas this grass plays an important role in stabilising bare soil to protect it from erosion[
375- Title
- Grassland Species - Profiles
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/Gbase/Default.htm
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Terse information on over 650 species of plants that grow in grassland, including trees, shrubs and perennial plants as well as grasses. Gives a brief description of the plant, its range and habitat and some of its uses.
].
Other Uses
The culms are twisted together and used as a rope to tie sheaves of grain together[
375- Title
- Grassland Species - Profiles
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/Gbase/Default.htm
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Terse information on over 650 species of plants that grow in grassland, including trees, shrubs and perennial plants as well as grasses. Gives a brief description of the plant, its range and habitat and some of its uses.
].
Propagation
Seed - sow in situ and only just cover the seed. Germination is usually quick and good.
If you have any useful information about this plant, please leave a comment. Comments have to be approved before they are shown here.
Useful Tropical Plants Database 2014 by
Ken Fern,
web interface by
Ajna Fern
with help from
Richard Morris.
