Hungarian grass, Setaria italica (also called Panicum italicum), a native of eastern Asia is one of the most wholesome and palatable Indian cereals.
Numerous other species belonging to the vast genus Panicum - the largest among !'f grasses, of which the following are among the most important - are also cultivated Setaria italica.
In Setaria and allied genera the spikelet is subtended by an involucre of bristles or spines which represent sterile branches of the inflorescence.
Setaria italica, Hungarian grass, is extensively grown as a food-grain both in China and Japan, parts of India and western Asia, as well as in Europe, where its culture dates from prehistoric times; it is found in considerable quantity in the lake dwellings of the Stone age.
