''Panicum decompositum'', known by the common names native millet, native panic, Australian millet, papa grass, and umbrella grass, is a species of

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

grass native to the inland of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It occurs in every mainland state. The seeds can be cultivated to produce flour typically used in Aboriginal

bushfood Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and used as sustenance by Indigenous Australians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora or fauna used for culinary or ...

. The species is also considered to have relatively high palatability by

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

, making it suitable for grazing pastures.

Description

Panicum decompositum Turners Flat flowerhead2 (8685594574)

Native millet is specifically a C4 tussock forming perennial with glabrous blue-green blade-like leaves with a pale line running down the middle on the front of the leaves and a protruding spine, known as the keel, at the back of the leaves. The grass can grow up to 145cm tall with seed heads that can grow up to approximately 40cm in length. Native millet is

hermaphroditic In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have separ ...

, which means it contains both the male and female reproductive organs in the same flower. The seed head has an open panicle structure which consists of multiple small branches loosely clustered together. At the end of each small branch is a spikelet that would flower and mature into seeds. The species flowers in summer and autumn (approximately from December to May in Australia) and the main method of

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds ...

is via wind. Native millet, along with other grasses, grow fibrous roots which retains the surrounding soil and prevent erosion. The fibrous roots also increase the overall biomass in the soil which provides an environment for microorganisms. which promotes the filtration of chemical compounds in water runoff such as fertilisers or pesticides.

Seed dispersal

The main mode of seed dispersal for native panic is wind. As the seeds mature and dry out, the spikelets can easily break off with adequate wind and get blown away. The dried spikelets, and dried, dead stalks can easily form clusters and become a fire hazard. This issue is usually managed with backburning, a practice often used to reduce the fuel available to bushfires during the drier seasons.

Ecology

Native millet can tolerate a wide variety of soils but prefers wetter soils with high clay and sand content, also known as

alluvial soil Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

. Native millet is widely spread, growing evenly on pastures rather than forming dominant stands or single bushes. The species is resistant to both drought and flooding conditions. Native millet has been shown to be able to withstand prolonged periods of flooding with minimal effects on normal plant characteristics with the exception of slowed seedling growth. The species is sensitive to frost and often hays-off or stops producing seeds prematurely during the winter months. Native millet can quickly repopulate during spring.

Uses

Bushfood

Native millet is a staple food of outback

Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

, who hand-harvest the seed to make

damper A damper is a device that deadens, restrains, or depresses. It may refer to: Music * Damper pedal, a device that mutes musical tones, particularly in stringed instruments * A mute for various brass instruments Structure * Damper (flow), a mechan ...

, a traditional

soda bread Soda bread is a variety of quick bread traditionally made in a variety of cuisines in which sodium bicarbonate (otherwise known as "baking soda", or in Ireland, "bread soda") is used as a leavening agent instead of the traditional yeast. The i ...

. The seeds can be collected dry, combined with other native seeds such as wattle seeds and spinifex ('' Triodia'') grass seeds to produce flour. The seed heads usually contain adequate moisture to produce a dough when grounded dry, otherwise, a small amount of water can be added to form a thick and sticky paste. The dough can be consumed raw or formed into a loaf or a bun and cooked on hot coal to produce damper bread, also known as bush bread, seed cake, or soda bread. Bush bread is often carried on group travels as a source of energy. Native millet, as well as other native grasses such as kangaroo grass, are being incorporated into modern baking in some small Australian bakeries as a wheat or rye flour alternative.

Agriculture

Farmers also highly prize the grass as

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

for stock. Native millet has moderate to high grazing value with 2.2–10.6% crude protein and considered relatively palatable by livestock. Due to its resistance to flooding, the grass is can produce high volumes of feed in floodplains after heavy rains or floods during the summer months. Native millet can withstand high livestock volumes but is best managed with

rotational grazing In agriculture, rotational grazing, as opposed to continuous grazing, describes many systems of pasturing, whereby livestock are moved to portions of the pasture, called paddocks, while the other portions rest. Each paddock must provide all the n ...

with at most 40% pasture utilisation, that is, the percentage of pasture consumed at any one time. Overgrowth of feed can lead to decay at the base of the pastures which can decrease palatability. The growth of native millet on sandy soils usually indicates a light grazing pressure or a lower volume of livestock. However, the growth of native millet on clay-laden soil can indicate heavy grazing as a result of overstocking. The germination rate of native millet has been found to increase from the exposure to plant-derived smoke. This indicates possible benefits from backburning or sowing smoke-treated native millet seeds for setting up pastures either for livestock or seed cultivation.

Toxicity

Some species of the genus ''Panicum'' such as ''Panicum dichotomiflorum'' are known to cause hepatogenous photosensitisation in

ruminant Ruminants (suborder Ruminantia) are ungulate, hoofed herbivorous grazing or browsing mammals that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by Enteric fermentation, fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally ...

livestock such as sheep. This occurs when the build up of phylloerythrin, a photosentising agent, in the gut reaches the skin and cause a phototoxic reaction which can lead to burning, blisters, or lesions of the skin. ''P. decompositum'' has been suspected to be poisonous in association with similar photosensitisation causing species, however, no specific cases were confirmed.

Distribution

There are two variations of native millet. ''P. decompositum'' var. ''decompositum'' is native and only occurs in the state of Victoria, while ''P. decompositum'' var. ''tenuis'' occurs in all other mainland states, in particular, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, and New South Wales. Very few sightings have been reported for the state of South Australia and neither variations are found in Tasmania. Native millet is amongst the intermediate species of alluvial Mitchell grassland of the Kimberly region of Western Australia. Mitchell grasslands are known for their black soil due to the high clay and

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...

content.

References

External links

* * Bushfood decompositum Poales of Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (Australia) Flora of South Australia Angiosperms of Western Australia Flora of the Northern Territory {{Australia-plant-stub