Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Brown) is thought to have originated in the Sahel, the semiarid savanna situated between the tropical rain forests and the Sahara in West Africa. Adapted to poor, droughty soils, this millet stored well; it was a dependable food source. The small seeds became a foundation for agriculture. Comprising about half their diet, pearl millet was the mainstay of a culture known as the Kintampo.

Pearl millet is an annual grass that germinates best when soil temperatures are 75 degrees F or warmer. It is believed the grass was introduced to the U.S. in the late 18th or early 19th century, but it was not widely grown until around 1870s.

The grass now has numerous hybrids; some, which do not produce seeds, are only grown for their value as forage for cattle, some are cultivated for seed for livestock feed and others like the ornamental millets merely for the attractive color and height in the garden.

Ornamental millets like the ‘Purple Majesty’ from the University of Nebraska and ‘Jester’ and ‘Purple Baron’ from the University of Georgia were oddities discovered during breeding and field trials for better agricultural varieties. The ornamental, or horticultural, varieties can be cut and dried for floral arrangements. Better still, the plants bring birds to the garden. The stout stems support their weight allowing birds to pick the heads clean of seeds.

 

(Compiled from: “Pearl Millet for Grain”, Lee, Hanna, Buntin, Dozier, Timper and Wilson, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Georgia College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, 2004; “Millets”, Oelke, Oplinger, Putnam, Durgan, Doll and Undersander, Alternative Field Crops Manual, 2000; “Progress with Proso, Pearl, and Other Millets”, Baltensperger, Trends in new crops and new uses, ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA, 2002; and Birimi Site and Kintampo Subsistence, Dr. A.C. D’Andrea, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, no date.)