Milium vernale - Poaceae Family
Identification
- Flowers:
Open panicles are green to purplish, and up to 8 inches long
- Seeds: Smooth and glossy, oval, 1.7mm to 2.0mm long.
Brown streaks give the appearance of wood grain. Spring millet spreads only by
seed.
- Leaves:
Flat, ¼ inches wide and 4 inches long.
- Flowering
Time: Stems each produce one cluster of
flowers in the spring.
- Life
cycle: Winter annual grass that grows up
to 2 ½ feet tall, with drooping, upright or spreading stems. Seed heads appear
in May, and seeds mature in June.
Impacts
- A pest of
winter wheat, Spring millet usually travels with the grain and gets planted
with the crop. Once established it infests surrounding pastures.
- Native to
Eurasia, Spring millet was found infesting winter wheat and other crops in
north-central Idaho. Although there have been no other reported occurrences in
North America, the infestation in Idaho is spreading rapidly.