James M. Rominger

Plants annual or perennial; cespitose, rarely rhizomatous. Culms 10-600 cm, erect or decumbent. Ligules membranous and ciliate or of hairs; bladesflat, folded, or involute, or plicate and petiolate (subg. Ptychophyllum). Inflorescences terminal, panicles, usually dense and spikelike, occasionally loose and open; disarticulation usually below the glumes, spikelets falling intact, bristles persistent. Spikelets 1-5 mm, usually lanceoloid-ellipsoid, rarely globose, turgid, subsessile to short pedicellate, in fascicles on short branches or single on a short branch, some or all subtended by 1-several, terete bristles (sterile branchlets). Lower glumes membranous, not saccate, less than 1/2 as long as the spikelets, 1-7-veined; upper glumesmembranous to herbaceous at maturity, 1/2 as long as to nearly equaling the upper lemmas, 3-9-veined; lower florets staminate or sterile; lower lemmas membranous, equaling or rarely exceeding the upper lemmas, rarely absent, not constricted or indurate basally, 5-7-veined; lower paleasusually hyaline to membranous at maturity, rarely absent or reduced, veins not keeled; upper florets bisexual; upper lemmas and paleas indurate, transversely rugose, rarely smooth; anthers 3, not penicillate; styles 2, free or fused basally, white or red. Caryopses small, ellipsoid to subglobose, compressed dorsiventrally. x = 9. Name from the Latin seta, bristle and aria, possessing.

Setaria, a genus of about 140 species, grows predominantly in tropical and warm-temperate regions, but it is particularly well-represented in Africa, Asia, and South America. Species from the Flora region fall into one of three categories: native to North America, native to South America, or native to the Eastern Hemisphere. There are 27 species in the Flora region; fifteen are native, nine are established introductions, one is cultivated, and two are not established or have been collected only at scattered locations. Several species of the native Setaria macrostachya complex (S. macrostachya, S. leucopila, S. texana, S. villosissima, and S. scheelei) provide valuable forage in the southwestern United States. Setaria italica has been cultivated for centuries in Asia and Europe, providing food for humans and their livestock. The majority of species in temperate North America are aggressive, exotic annuals which collectively are a major nuisance, particularly in the corn and bean fields of the midwestern states.

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SELECTED REFERENCES Clayton, W.D.1979. Notes on Setaria (Gramineae). Kew Bull. 33:501-509; Emery, W.H.P. 1957. A cyto-taxonomic study of Setaria macrostachya (Gramineae) and its relatives in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 84:94-105; Fox, W.E., III and S.L. Hatch. 1999. New combinations in Setaria (Poaceae: Paniceae). Sida 18:1037-1047; Hitchcock, A.S. 1951 [title page 1950]. Manual of the Grasses of the United States, ed. 2, rev. A. Chase. U.S.D.A. Miscellaneous Publication No. 200. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 1051 pp.; Hubbard, F.T.1915. A taxonomic study of Setaria italica and its immediate allies. Amer. J. Bot. 2:169-198; Reeder, J.R. 1994. Setaria villosissima (Gramineae) in Arizona: Fact or fiction. Phytologia 77:452-455; Rominger, J.M.1962. Taxonomy of Setaria (Gramineae) in North America. Illinois Biol. Monogr. 29:1-132.

T.A. Cope (1995) Setaria. Flora of Somalia 4:232-234

Plants NNUl or perennia. Leaves: ligules usually a line of hairs; blades usually flat or folded, sometimes pleated. Inflorescences open or spikelike panicles, with 1 or more bristles subtendings the spikelets, the bristles remaining attached to the axes after the spiklelets fall.Spikelets oblong to ovate, more or less plano-convex, unawned; lower glumes ovate from a clasping bases, shortly that the spikelets; upper glumes exceeding or exceeded by the uppermost floret; lower florets male or sterile, the lemmas herbaceous; lemmas of upper florets crustaceous, rounded on the back,their  margins inrolled and clasping only the edge of the paleas. Caryopses oblong-ellipsoid. 

Setaria includes about 135 species. It is native to the tropics and subtropics.

Key to the species of Setaria in Somaliland and Somalia. 

Global distribution of Setaria

Note: GBIF records include introduced and cultivated plants. Consequently, the distribution shown often differs from statements about a taxon's native distribution.

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