Don, The introduction to Echinochloa in FNA has E. frumentaceae derived from wild E. crus-galli and E. esculenta from wild E. colona. Which makes perfect sense from how the plants look, but conflicts with the scientific literature. I hope that Dr. Michael will reply with more thoughts on the topic. David Brenner ________________________________ From: Collab <collab-bounces@lists.millets2023.space> on behalf of Don Osborn <don@milletsalliance.org> Sent: Friday, July 19, 2024 9:36 AM To: Brenner, David (CTR) - REE-ARS <david.brenner@usda.gov> Cc: collab@lists.millets2023.space <collab@lists.millets2023.space> Subject: Re: [Collab] [External Email]Re: Ankee or 'anki, a Mojave barnyard millet? You're welcome, David, altho I'm just posing questions. Any further information you can get would be most appreciated. Re the Flora of North America that you mention, I see online this page on the genus Echinochloa: http://floranorthamerica.org/Echinochloa . I found this passage interesting: "In North America, the most abundant species appears to be the introduced, weedy Echinochloa crus-galli, which closely resembles the native E. muricata. The confusion between the two species has caused them to be treated as the same species. This confusion is probably reflected in the mapping of both E. crus-galli and E. muricata. Echinochloa frumentacea and E. esculenta are grown for grain in India and in China and Japan, respectively, but not in North America." Regarding the native E. muricata - sometimes called American barnyard grass - a search came up with a number of flora pages on this species from around the US. The Native Plant Trust, which focuses on New England, has a page on it at https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/echinochloa/muricata/ with this interesting statement: "Archaeological evidence suggests that the plant was used prehistorically for thatching and matting and the seeds were possibly used for food." E. muricata is definitely found in the SW US - see https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/taxa/index.php?taxon=1715&clid=2887 - so presumably also in the Mohave lands. No idea whether it had any importance to the people indigenous to that area. However and whenever E. crus-galli came to that area, however, one imagines that by its similarity to E. muricata, it would not have been an unusual addition to the flora. Sorry, straying into speculation again, but it seems like there's a very interesting story here. Strictly back on the botanical level, it would be interesting to know whatever you may learn from Dr. P.W. Michael. Thanks in advance, Don DO, EL, MI, US NAMA On Wed, Jul 17, 2024 at 1:48 PM Brenner, David (CTR) - REE-ARS <david.brenner@usda.gov<mailto:david.brenner@usda.gov>> wrote: Thanks Don! I never emailed P.W. Michael about the Echinochloa progenitor species situation in the Flora of North America. Maybe today. David ________________________________ From: Collab <collab-bounces@lists.millets2023.space<mailto:collab-bounces@lists.millets2023.space>> on behalf of Don Osborn <don@milletsalliance.org<mailto:don@milletsalliance.org>> Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2024 11:46 AM To: Brenner, David (CTR) - REE-ARS <david.brenner@usda.gov<mailto:david.brenner@usda.gov>> Cc: collab@lists.millets2023.space<mailto:collab@lists.millets2023.space> <collab@lists.millets2023.space<mailto:collab@lists.millets2023.space>> Subject: Re: [Collab] [External Email]Re: Ankee or 'anki, a Mojave barnyard millet? Thank you, David, this information is appreciated. It would be amazing if after over a century, accessions of the tall 'anki had somehow been maintained in USDA's holdings (thru growing and harvesting at intervals?), but not expected. I find it interesting that Casteller and Bell mention a lost semi-cultivated grain plant called in the Mojave language "ankithi." The superficial similarity with the "anki" that has been identified as an Echinochloa (E. crus-galli) makes me wonder if the word composition points to a resemblance in form or habitat. But that's pure speculation. All the best, Don DO, EL, MI, US NAMA On Tue, Jul 16, 2024 at 11:27 AM Brenner, David (CTR) - REE-ARS <david.brenner@usda.gov<mailto:david.brenner@usda.gov>> wrote: Don, We have one accession of domesticated Panicum hirticaule in the US National plant Germplasm System (PI 654448) and could accession more if someone has them. https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/accessiondetail?id=1705671 We have diverse wild and grain Echinochloa but I think none that exactly match the description below. David Brenner NC7 ________________________________ From: Collab <collab-bounces@lists.millets2023.space<mailto:collab-bounces@lists.millets2023.space>> on behalf of Don Osborn <don@milletsalliance.org<mailto:don@milletsalliance.org>> Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2024 10:05 AM To: collab@lists.millets2023.space<mailto:collab@lists.millets2023.space> <collab@lists.millets2023.space<mailto:collab@lists.millets2023.space>> Subject: [External Email]Re: [Collab] Ankee or 'anki, a Mojave barnyard millet? And another follow-up: In response to an email to him, Dr. Gary Nabhan - who early in his career was key to locating ongoing cultivation of a Panicum hirticaule cultivar in Sonora, Mexico/9 - kindly indicated an older key reference on Native American agriculture and food in the lower Colorado and Gila River valleys - Edward Castetter and Willis Bell's 1951 "Yuman Indian Agriculture."/10 Among the information in that volume are mentions and a brief discussion of use and management of Echinochloa crus-galli by not only the Mohave, but also neighboring Native American peoples - the Yuma, Cocopa, and Maricopa. Basically, E. crus-galli - again in the Mojave language, 'anki - was managed in tidal areas of the rivers, with the grain used for food. (Of course, the main staple being varieties of corn.) There was also mention of E. colona. (In literature on barnyard millet, E. crus-galli is indicated as the wild form of the domesticated E. esculenta, or Japanese [barnyard] millet, and E. colona the source for the domesticated E. frumentacea, or Indian barnyard millet - but apparently that's still a matter of discussion.) There is also mention of Panicum hirticaule. Interestingly, I found no mention by Castetter and Bell of the tall (7 ft.) variety of "ankee" described in the 1899 USDA publications cited earlier./1/2 Was this variety lost to the Mohave and their neighbors? Have any accessions been maintained by any USDA station? The flow of the Colorado River and the agro-ecology of the region described in the book changed markedly after the completion of the Hoover Dam (or Boulder Dam, as it was referred to in the book) in 1935 Basically the seasonal flooding of riverine areas that supported traditional agriculture and subsistence strategies ceased, DO, EL, MI, US NAMA Notes (numbering cont'd): 9. See discussion and references under "PANICUM HIRTICAULE or P. SONORUM" in my post to this list on 30 Oct. 2022 https://lists.millets2023.space/pipermail/collab/2022-October/000090.html 10. Castetter, Edward F., and Willis H. Bell, Yuman Indian Agriculture : Primitive Subsistence on the Lower Colorado and Gila Rivers, University of New Mexico Press, 1951. The full text of this book is accessible online at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006771195 On Sat, Jul 13, 2024 at 1:22 PM Don Osborn <don@milletsalliance.org<mailto:don@milletsalliance.org>> wrote: A very quick follow up. FIrst of all, erratum in the previous posting: the year of publication for Thomas Williams' bulletin on millets was 1899, not 1988. Also, whatever the fate of the Mohave 'anki millet, the "ankee" or "ankee millet" name persist. It figures in Elaine Nowick's nice compilation on common names for plants in the Great Plains./7 One also encounters it in various webpages dealing with barnyard millet outside of North America, including one at the Atlas of Living Austraila, that associates the name with E. esculentis./8 Anyway, "ankee" is part of the vocabulary of millets, which I didn't even know until yesterday. Best to all, Don DO, EL, MI, US NAMA Notes (numbering cont'd): 7. Nowick, Elaine, Historical Common Names of Great Plains Plants, Vol 1, ''Common Names'', Zea Books, 2015 https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/188096594.pdf 8. Atlas of Living Australia, "Ankee millet" (accessed 13 July 2024) bie.ala.org.au/species/https%3A//id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/887000<http://bie.ala.org.au/species/https%3A//id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/887000> (NB- the Ohwi 1962 source cited is at https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/bunruichiri/20/1/20_KJ00002992741/_pdf/... but I do not find "ankee" in the text) On Sat, Jul 13, 2024 at 12:36 PM Don Osborn <don@milletsalliance.org<mailto:don@milletsalliance.org>> wrote: The millet-of-the-month calendar features barnyard millet(s) in July. As we know, this is a complex of wild, gathered, and cultivated species in the genus Echinochloa. While looking up some material, I came across some older discussions of this group in which there was mention of "ankee" or "ankee millet." In particular, three publications, using similar text and the same drawings, from 1899-1901 (at the time of these publications, what we now know as Echinochloa was classified as Panicum),./1/2/3 These evidently concerns an Echinochloa species, likely a variety of E. crus-galli, that is very tall and grown mostly in wetter or inundated soils. Ankee is, or was until the 1960s, grown by the Mohave / Mojave people, who use(d) the grains for food./4 The name "ankee" is evidently a borrowing from 'anki in their language./5 Further research would fill out some details, including the important matters of how and when ankee came to the area (E. crus-galli is described as a plant from Asia), and its current status. Together with the so-called Sonoran millet (Panicum hirticaule) - a species native to North America - ankee is another example of a millet being grown by Native Americans in wetland areas bordering rivers in what is now the southwest US and northwest Mexico. One should note also that the Mohave people were subjected to confinement to a reservation somewhat away from their native area (altho some apparently remained in their original home) and were subjected to assimilationist policies after 1890./6 . As always, any feedback or further information is appreciated. Don Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance Notes: 1. Williams, Thomas A., "Millets," Farmers' Bulletin No. 101, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1988, pp. 14-15 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Millets_%28IA_CAT8720151... 2. ''Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture'', USGPO, 1899, pp. 277-278 https://archive.org/details/yoa1898/page/277/mode/2up 3. Pammel, L.H., Jules Buel Weems, and Harry Foster Bain, The Grasses of Iowa, Iowa Geological Society, 1901, p. 135 https://archive.org/details/grassesofiowa01pamm/page/135/mode/1up 4. Stewart, Kenneth M. “Mohave Indian Gathering of Wild Plants.” ''Kiva'', vol. 31, no. 1, 1965, pp. 46–53. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30247560 5. Munro, Pamela, Nellie Brown, and Julie G. Crawford, "A Mojave Dictionary," UCLA Occasional Papers in Linguistics, No. 10, 1992. https://linguistics.ucla.edu/publications/opl_10.pdf 6. "Mohave people," Wikipedia (accessed 13 July 2024) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohave_people This electronic message contains information generated by the USDA solely for the intended recipients. Any unauthorized interception of this message or the use or disclosure of the information it contains may violate the law and subject the violator to civil or criminal penalties. If you believe you have received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.