Scientific name: Setaria palmifolia (Koen.) Stapf;

Alternative names: Setaria palmifolia, [Brown] grass, young grass, palmifolia.

Perennial herbs. With rhizomes, fibrous roots are tough. The stalk is upright or slightly bent at the base, 0.75-2 meters high, about 3-7 mm in diameter, with a base of up to 1 cm, and a pillar root.

The leaf sheaths are loose, with dense or sparse warty hairs, and a few are hairless. The upper edge has dense and long wart-based cilia, and the hairs fall off easily. The lower edge is thin and papery, without cilia; the ligule is about 1 mm, with cilia about 2-3 mm long; the leaves are spindle-shaped and broadly lanceolate, 20-59 cm long and 2-7 cm wide, the apex is acuminate, the base is narrow and stalk-shaped, and there is a long edge near the base. The base of the wart is 5 mm long, with deep wrinkles, and both sides are warty or hairless.

The main axis of the panicle extends very long, and is in the shape of a spread or slightly narrow tower, 20-60 cm long and 2-10 cm wide. The main axis is angular, and the branches are loosely arranged and very rough, up to 30 cm long. centimeter.

The spikelets are ovate-lanceolate, 2.5-4 mm long, densely or sparsely arranged on one side of the branch. Some spikelets are supported by a seta, and the setae are 5-10 (14) mm long. or shorter.

The first glume is triangular and oval, with a slightly pointed apex, 1/3-1/2 of the spikelet, with 3-5 veins; the second glume is 1/2- of the spikelet. 3/4 or slightly shorter than the spikelet, the apex is pointed, with 5-7 veins; the first floret is male or neuter, the first lemma is as long as the spikelet or slightly longer, the apex is acuminate, with a slightly curved tip. Head, with 5 veins, lemma membranous, narrow, short, narrowly triangular, 2/3 as long as lemma; second floret bisexual, second lemma with inconspicuous transverse wrinkles, equal or slightly shorter In the first lemma, the apex is a small and hard tip, and the mature spikelet is not easy to fall off.

The scales are wedge-shaped and slightly concave, and the base is dark along the veins; the style is united at the base.

The caryopsis is ovate-lanceolate and often falls off without the glumes when mature. It is 2-3 mm long and has inconspicuous transverse wrinkles.

In the center between the veins of the upper and lower epidermis of the leaves, there are 3-4 rows of long cells with deep ripples and thin walls, and 2-3 rows on both sides of the long cells with deep ripples and thick walls, and occasionally short cells.

The flowering and fruiting period is from August to December.

Produced in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Taiwan, Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Tibet and other provinces and regions; grows on hillsides or valleys in moist places under forests.

It is native to Africa and widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas of Oceania, America and Asia.

The caryopses are rich in starch and can be eaten; the roots can be used medicinally to treat prolapse of the anus and uterus.

(Excerpted from "Flora of China")