Setaria italica - Foxtail Millet

Foxtail millet is an annual grass with slim, vertical, leafy stems which can reach a height of 1.2-2 m. Leaf blades are linear-lanceshaped, 15-45 x 0.6-2 cm, usually hairless. Flower panicles are dense, lobed, 6-40 x 0.5-5 cm, very variable, erect or pendent when mature; spikelets subtended by several bristles 1-5 times spikelet length; axis hairy. The seed-head is a dense, hairy panicle 5-30 cm long. The small seeds, around 2 mm in diameter, are encased in a thin, papery hull which is easily removed in threshing. Seed color varies greatly between varieties. In India, foxtail millet is still an important crop in its arid and semi-arid regions. In South India, it has been a staple diet among people for a long time from the Sangam period. It is referred to often in old Tamil texts and is commonly associated with Lord Muruga and his consort Valli.