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Achnatherum hymenoides

Common name:	Indian Millet	Family:	Gramineae
Author:	(Roem.& Schult.)Barkworth.	Botanical references:	43, 60, 200
Synonyms:	Stipa hymenoides (Roemer & J.A. Schult.), Oryzopsis hymenoides ((Roem.& Schult.)Ricker.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Western N. America - British Columbia to Manitoba, south to Texas, California and Mexico.
Habitat:	Sandy prairies and rocky slopes[43].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Ericoma cuspidata[B,P] Eriocoma cuspidata[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Indian Rice-grass [H], Indian Ricegrass [FEIS],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	hymenoides = membranous
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Cyperales. Renamed to Poaceae -- Grass family

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.6m. It is hardy to zone 8. It is in flower from May to July. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil. The plant can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Seed.

Seed - raw, cooked or ground into a meal and used in making bread etc, gruel and as a thickener in soups[2, 46, 85, 106, 183]. The seed is rather small but when fully ripe it falls readily from the plant and is fairly easy to harvest[183]. Another report says that the seed is rather large[183], but this has not been our experience[K]. The seeds were parched over the flames of a fire in order to remove the hairs[213]. A pleasant taste and very nutritious[85, 183], it contains about 6% sugars and 20% starch[213]. Before corn was introduced to the area, this seed was at one time a staple food for some native North American Indian tribes[213].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Succeeds in any moderately fertile moisture retentive soil in full sun[200].
This species is unlikely to tolerate temperatures lower than about -5° c, and so will only be suitable for the milder areas of the country[213].
Currently (1992) being tested for its potential as a perennial cereal for sandy soils in dry regions[183].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in situ[200].
We have had better results from sowing the seed in a greenhouse. Only just cover the seed and it should germinate freely within 2 weeks. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and plant them out in early summer[K].
Division in spring. Very easy, larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found that it is better to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in light shade in a cold frame until they are well established before planting them out in late spring or early summer.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[FEIS] Data (Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.

References for Oryzopsis hymenoides (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[60] Hitchcock. C. L. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press 1955
A standard flora for Western N. America with lots of information on habitat etc. Five large volumes, it is not for the casual reader.

[85] Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9
A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.

[106] Coon. N. The Dictionary of Useful Plants. Rodale Press 1975 ISBN 0-87857-090-x
Interesting reading but short on detail.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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