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Cenchrus americanus
Poaceae FAMILY

Cenchrus americanus

Cenchrus americanus

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual
Growth—

A plant of the tropics and subtropics, succeeding from semi-arid to moist areas, it can be grown at elevations from sea level to 1,800 metres[1]. It grows best in areas where the mean annual temperature ranges between 25 - 35°c, but can tolerate 12 - 40°c[1]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 400 - 900mm, but tolerates 200 - 1,700mm[1]. Requires a light well-drained soil in a sunny position[2]. Tolerant of various soil conditions, especially of light and acid soils[3]. Its large and dense root system allows it to succeed in dry infertile soils[4, 3]. Once established, the crop is fairly tolerant of salinity[3]. This species is the most drought-resistant of all cereal crops[2]. Prefers a pH in the range 5 - 6.5, tolerating 4.5 - 8.3[1]. The early maturing forms require a growing period of 60 - 95 days to ripen the seed, medium duration types need about 80 days, whilst long duration types need 100 - 120 days or longer[3, 1]. Pearl millet is harvested by hand, either by picking the panicles or by harvesting whole plants. In cultivars where tillers ripen unevenly, several pickings are required. Cultivars with long panicles are favoured for ease of harvest, bundling and transport[3]. In Africa, the expected yields of grain are 0.25 - 1.0 tonne per hectare, though normally the optimum yields are from 3 - 5 tonnes and experimental yields of up to 8 tonnes have been reported[1]. When seedlings are established with fresh water and fertilizer applied, multiple irrigations with seawater can give yields of 1 - 1.6 tonnes of grain[1]. There are often not many seeds on the inflorescence[4].

Propagation

Seed - sow in situ. The optimum temperature for germination is 33 - 35°c; no germination occurs below 12°c[3]. If dry and protected from insects, seed can be stored adequately at room temperature for several years[3]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Cenchrus+americanus>

Pollinators

Wind

References

  1. [1]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  2. [2]Ornamental Grasses. — Grounds. R. · Christopher Helm · 1989 · ISBN 0-7470-1219-9 ↩︎Cultivation details of many of the grasses and bamboos. Well illustrated.
  3. [3]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  4. [4]Wonder Crops. 1987. — Natural Food Institute, ↩︎Fascinating reading, this is an annual publication. Some reports do seem somewhat exaggerated though.
  5. [5]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  6. [6]Plants Consumed by Man. — Brouk. B. · Academic Press · 1975 · ISBN 0-12-136450-x ↩︎Readable but not very comprehensive.
  7. [7]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  8. [8]Flora of the USSR. — Komarov. V. L. · Israel Program for Scientific Translation · 1968 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN - ↩︎An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  9. [9]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  10. [10]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · 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.
  11. [11]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
  12. [12]Economic Botany. — Hill. A. F. · The Maple Press · 1952 · ISBN - ↩︎Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some detail about the plants it does cover.
  13. [13]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
  14. [14]Native American Ethnobotany — Moerman. D. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 1998 · ISBN 0-88192-453-9 ↩︎Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.