''Setaria palmifolia'' is a species of

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

known by the common names palmgrass, highland pitpit, hailans pitpit, short pitpit, broadleaved bristlegrass, and knotroot. It is native to

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

and

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

Asia. It is known elsewhere as an introduced, and often invasive, species, including in Australia, New Zealand, many

Pacific Islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...

,''Setaria palmifolia''.
Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER). USDA Forest Service. and the Americas.

Description

This species is a perennial grass with stems growing up to two''Setaria palmifolia''.
Flora of China. or three
GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. meters long from a knotty

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

. The stems can be up to a centimeter thick. The leaf sheaths are sparsely to totally hairy. The leaf blades are linear, oval, or lance-shaped and up to 60 to 80 centimeters long by 7 or 8 centimeters wide. They have a pleated texture and are hairless or with some rough hairs. The

panicle In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

is loose, open and spreading, reaching up to 80 centimeters long. The spikelet is a few millimeters long but is often accompanied by a bristle which can be 1.5 centimeters long.

Uses

The grass is cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

for its palm-like pleated leaves. Some

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s have striped leaves and 'Rubra' has purple midribs.A Floridata Plant Profile: ''Setaria palmifolia''.
FloriData. It is grown as a

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

crop in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

, where that is known as highland pitpit. The stem of the grass is eaten after cooking.Rose, C. J. (1980)
Optimum replanting stage for two varieties of pit-pit (''Setaria palmifolia'') in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea.
''Papua New Guinea Agricultural Journal'' 31(1-4), 23-29. The grain can be eaten as a

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

substitute.''Setaria palmifolia''.
Grass Manual. Flora of North America. A folk belief in Taiwan holds that the number of latitudinal creases on the leaf predicts the number of typhoons that will hit the area in the coming or current typhoon season. It is known locally as typhoon grass.

Ecology

The grass has been introduced to many areas, often as an ornamental. It is widespread in the Pacific Islands. It has become an invasive plant on

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland Port ...

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

Rapa Nui Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

, and the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

, and in

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. It is also invasive in New Zealand and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. The grass is robust and spreads via rhizome and seed banks, forming monotypic stands. It is a tall plant with wide leaves that shade out other vegetation. The rampant feral pigs of Hawaii facilitate its spread there by uprooting the surrounding plants while feeding on its thick stems. It is also spread by seed-eating birds.''Setaria palmifolia''.
Pest Plants of Hawaiian Native Ecosystems. Department of Botany, University of Hawaii at Manoa. This species is host to the

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

'' Cercospora setariae'' and '' Phacellium paspali''.Kirschner, R., et al. (2004)
Some cercosporoid hyphomycetes from Taiwan, including a new species of ''Stenella'' and new reports of ''Distocercospora pachyderma'' and ''Phacellium paspali''.
''Fungal Diversity'' 17, 57-68.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q11116561 palmifolia Grasses of Asia Flora of tropical Asia Garden plants of Asia Introduced plants of Oceania Introduced plants of South America