Carboniferous plant physiology breaks the mold

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Origins and evolution of foxtail millets (Setaria italica)

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.) Beauv.) is widely grown as a minor cereal across Eurasia. Primitive kinds, belonging to race moharia are cultivated in southeastern Europe, parts of the Near East, and particularly in Afghanistan. They resemble with S. italica subsp. viridis (L.) Thellung (green foxtail) in respect to inflorescence morphology, and hybrids between wild and cultivated kinds are fully fertile. Derivatives from such natural hybridization gave rise to the robust weed of Eurasia and temperate North American commonly known as giant green foxtail. The highly modified race maxima is an important cereal in Central Asia and the Far East. Foxtail millets have been grown in Europe since the third millennium B.C. and in China since the fifth millennium B.C. It seems unlikely that the crop was domesticated in China and introduced into Europe. No other Far Eastern crop reached Europe during prehistoric times. Similarly, the cereal could not have been introduced from Europe into China as a domesticated crop. Wild foxtail millet occurs across Eurasia, is commonly harvested as a cereal, and could have been taken into cultivation at several places. In Europe, this cereal is found, in an archaeological context, in association with Near Eastern crops.Synthèse des connaissances actuelles sur la botanique et les origines du millet Setaria italica.de Wet J.M.J., Oestry-Stidd L.L., Cubero J.I. Origins and evolution of foxtail millets (Setaria italica). In: Journal d'agriculture traditionnelle et de botanique appliquée, 26ᵉ année, bulletin n°1, Janvier-mars 1979. pp. 53-64