Echinochloa frumentacea

Echinochloa frumentacea Link, Hort. Berol. 1: 204 1827. (Syn: Echinochloa colona var. frumentacea (Link) Ridl.; Echinochloa crus-galli var. edulis Hitchc. [Illegitimate]; Echinochloa crus-galli var. edulis Honda; Echinochloa crus-galli var. frumentacea (Link) W.F.Wright; Echinochloa crusgalli var. frumentacea W. Wight; Echinochloa glabrescens var. barbata Kossenko; Oplismenus frumentaceus (Link) Kunth; Panicum crus-galli var. edule (Hitchc.) Thell. ex de Lesd.; Panicum crus-galli var. edulis (Hitchc.) Makino & Nemoto; Panicum crus-galli var. frumentacea (Link) Trimen; Panicum crus-galli var. frumentaceum (Roxb.) Trimen; Panicum frumentaceum Roxb. [Illegitimate];                               (≡) Echinochloa crus-galli var. frumentacea (Link) E. G. Camus & A. Camus);
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Central African Repu, India, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe; Introduced into: Afghanistan, Alabama, Angola, Arkansas, Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil Southeast, Burundi, California, Cambodia, China South-Central, China Southeast, Colorado, Congo, Connecticut, Czechoslovakia, District of Columbia, East Himalaya, Ethiopia, Florida, Gambia, Illinois, Inner Mongolia, Iowa, Kentucky, Kenya, Korea, Laos, Maine, Malaya, Manchuria, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Myanmar, Nebraska, Nevada, New Guinea, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New South Wales, New York, Nigeria, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pakistan, Pennsylvania, Primorye, Queensland, Rhode I., Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Taiwan, Tasmania, Tennessee, Texas, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad-Tobago, Ukraine, Vermont, Victoria, Vietnam, Virginia, Washington, West Himalaya, West Virginia, Western Australia, Wisconsin, Zaïre as per POWO (Echinochloa colonum subsp. edulis (Honda) Banfi & Galasso);
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Common name: Japanese Millet, Japanese Barnyard Millet, billion dollar grass • Hindi: Banti • Kannada: Kaadu haaraka hullu • Marathi: Jangli sama, Samul • Sanskrit: Syamaka • Tamil: Chamai, Kudiravalli pulllu, Rail pullu

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Echinochloa frumentacea (Indian barnyard millet, sawa millet, or billion dollar grass)^[2] is a species of Echinochloa. Both Echinochloa frumentacea and E. esculenta are called Japanese millet.
This millet is widely grown as a cereal in India, Pakistan, and Nepal.
Its wild ancestor is the tropical grass Echinochloa colona,^[3] but the exact date or region of domestication is uncertain.
It is cultivated on marginal lands where rice and other crops will not grow well.
The grains are cooked in water, like rice, or boiled with milk and sugar. Sometimes it is fermented to make beer. While also being part of staple diet for some communities in India, these seeds are, in particular, (cooked and) eaten during religious fasting (willingly abstaining from some types of food / food ingredients). For this reason, these seeds are commonly also referred to as “vrat ke chawal” in Hindi (i.e. – rice for fasting, literally).
Other common names to identify these seeds include Samo seeds, Morio / Mario / Moraiaya seeds, Bhagar.
(From Wikipedia on 22.4.13)
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It is herbaceous, tufted annual or perennial. Not confined to wetlands but often found along rivers and round ponds as the water recedes. A common weed in rice fields. It is often cultivated as a dry season crop, particularly in river beds (Cook 1996). It is abundant in aquatic or semi-aquatic systems like marshes and cultivated fields (Kabeer and Nair 2009).
(From  IUCN Red List (LC))
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Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Juncaceae Week:: Poaceae : Echinochloa colona from Panipat- NS 33: Attachments (2). 3 posts by 2 authors.
This grass is common during rice season (early winter), specially abundant among fodder crops.. to me this is Echinochloa colona (L.) Link, wanted to know exactly, if this is feasible with these pics..

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Echinochloa frumentacea (Also called E.crusgalli var. frumentacea) or Barnyard millet. The recurved racemes distinguish it from the normal.

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The spikelets almost awnless led me to think about this being E. colona.. thanks … for clarification..

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Echinochloa frumentacea Link 15Jan SN 19 : 2 posts by 2 authors. Attachments (2)

Echinochloa frumentacea Link,
a weed in paddy cultivation from Hosur area of Krishnagiri dt, Tamilnadu.

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Thanks … for your valuable uploads, I need to know almost all of grasses/sedges around me, a good task to start..

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भखर:
राजस्थान मे सञहवीं शताब्दी तक भखर नाम का अनाज पैदा होता था।
क्या इसके बारे मे कोई जानकारी मिल सकती है?

Better if you send English translation, so that all members can read your mail.

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In seventeen century, there used to be some grain called ‘Bhakar’ in Rajasthan.
Is anybody aware about it?

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Usually, what is grown is Echinochloa frumentacea (Barnyard millet) which is known by various names including Bakhar, Jhangora, etc. However Sama Rice is the common name for several species of certain millets including E.frumentacea, Panicum miliare (Little millet), P.miliaceum (Proso millet), etc. Vari is one of the common names of Little millet as well as Kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum). In some places, vari rice is Oryza rufipogon. So, these common names vary from region to region and that is exactly why there is a requirement of a universally accepted scientific name.
In general “ari” refers to any grain. The name Oryza has also come from the term ‘arisi’ which means paddy grain. While “ari” suffix is more common towards south of India, “ara/ora/ar” is more common in north indian dialects- eg. Jow-ar, Baj-ara, Bakh-ar, Jhang-ora, etc. Other grain like substances also have the suffix “ar” or “ari”. For example, Sago (Sabudana) is also called Chowari meaning popped grain(though it is not a true popped grain). Chiwara, Cheela, etc. are all forms of flattened rice, popped rice, etc. Cooked paddy rice is called Chawal in Hindi, Chol in Punjabi and Chor in Malayalam. The word “Rice” in English is also derived from “Arisi”. The cereals ‘Rye’ and “B-ar-ley”, also have this origin. All these are of Dravidian origin, whereas the Sanskrit version is “Dhanyam”  and Latin is “Granum” for grain. The words Dhaan (paddy in Hindi), Dhan/Dhanam (wealth), all originate from this. I am yet to find the origins of “Ragi/Mandua”, “Wheat/Gehu/Qamah” and “Maize/Corn/Makka”. The word “Corn” is also believed to be a variation of “Gran”. Let me stop here for the time being as I am digressing from the core objective of this group.

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‘Beaker’ English name is Barnyard and botanical Name is Echinochloa esculenta as per my knowledge.

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Echinochloa esculenta: 2 images.
Echinochloa esculenta
Japanese barnyard millet
Hindi Name: Kangni
Near Karsog in District Mandi H.P. in Feilds of Milletman of India PadmaShri Nek Ram Sharma Ji
July 2023

In my opinion, it should be the Indian Barnyard millet Echinochloa frumentacea which is widely cultivated in Himalayas. However, there is lot of variation and hybridization and polyploidy due to which both E.e. and E.f. cannot be considered a true species. E.f. is basically polyploid of E.colonum whereas E.e. is a polyploid of E.crus-galli

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References:

POWO  The Plant List  GRIN  Flora of Pakistan Flora of China  Wikipedia  IUCN Red List (LC)  Flowers of India