Panicum antidotale Retz. (
Punjabi: ਘਮੂਰ ghamur,
English: blue panicgrass) is a tall (up to 3 metres), coarse, woody perennial
grass throughout the
Himalaya and the
Upper Gangetic Plain and specifically in various regions of the
Indian state of
Punjab and the
Pakistanprovince of Punjab and the neighbouring areas of these regions. The plant has strong spreading
rhizomes.
This grass is also listed by
William Coldstream in his Illustrations of Some of the Grasses of the Southern Punjab[1] with the vernacular name ghirri (Punjabi ਘਿੱਰੀ) which he however explains is not known to those landowners that he had interviewed as a separate species of Panicum but rather as an unripe form of Panicum antidotale which is generally called in Punjabi ghamur (ਘਮੂਰ).
Habitat
Panicum antidotale is found in rich soils that have often been improved with compost or dung be they originally of sand or clay. According to Coldstream, for some reason it seems to be found in the vicinity of
caper bushes.[citation needed]
Usage
This grass is not considered of much use beyond its early tender stages having a bitter or brackish taste when it matures. It is grown in the southwestern United States as a
forage, and can now be found there growing wild as an
introduced species.[2][3]
Pests and diseases
Panicum antidotale is susceptible to
yellow stripe disease which is usually found in
sugar-cane. The disease in this grass, in which the
virus persists for long periods, is capable not only of infecting sugar-canes in their vicinity, but also serves as new sources of infection when diseased canes have been removed.[4]
Hisar: ਘਿੱਰੀ ghirri s.f. - Though see Coldstream's note above.
Jhang: ਘਮੂਰ ghamūr s.m. - Where Panicum antidotale is not found on the prevalent
nitrate-saturated
soils of the district (called in Punjabi ਕਲੱਰ kallar).
Multan: ਕੁਟਕੀ kuṭkī s.f., 1. A
gnat; 2. The name of a plant Panicum miliare used medicinally; 3.
Hellebore. Which again seems to be a synonym for Panicum antidotale. Compare the Punjabi form ਕੁਦਕੀ kudkī for Panicum miliare which is a synonym for Panicum antidotale.
Hindi: कुटकी kuṭkī [Compare
Prakrit कुटुकिआ kuṭukīā< from
Sanskrit कटुक kuṭuk + इका -ikā], s.f. 1. A
medicinal plant,
Black Hellebore, Helleborus niger;
wolf's bane;
aconite; 2. A kind of grain, Panicum miliare. See above where as in dialectal Punjabi forms the reference here is to Panicum antidotale. The meaning is found in Hindi कुटकी kuṭkī [S. कुट्टक (rt. कुट्ट्)+इका], s.f. 1. Cutting, dividing; 2. A nip; 3. An incision (made with the teeth, &c., on thread, &c.;4. A gnat (cf. S. kaṭu-kīṭa);5. Estrangement, separation (from), desertion (of):--kuṭkī denā, or kuṭkī lagānā (-meṅ), 1. To nip; 2. To make an incision (in), to cut (the string of a kite, &c.).
Tamil: சாமை cāmai (சாமி), s.m., A kind of grain, millet. < From
Old Indo-Aryan šyāmā s.m., 1.
Poor-man's millet, sown in
Āvaṇi and maturing in six weeks to four months, Echinochloa crus-galli. Compare: சிறுசாமை ciṟu-cāmai, n. < id. + சாமை, a kind of little millet, Panicum miliare; சாமைவகை. (சங். அக.); புற்சாமை puṟ-cāmai, n. < id. + a species of little millet, Panicum; சாமைவகை.; பனிச்சாமை paṉi-c-cāmai, n. < பனி + a kind of little millet, Panicum; சாமைவகை. (யாழ். அக.). Though as noted above Panicum miliare is a synonym: in northern India it seems to refer to Panicum antidotale, whilst in southern India it seems to refer to Echinochloa crus-galli.
kural s.m., Italian millet.
Telugu: samalu (pl.) id.; The cereal yielding samalu.
^Coldstream, William: Illustrations of Some of the Grasses of the Southern Punjab: Being Photo-lithographs of the Principal Grasses found at
Hisar with short Descriptive letterpress W. Thacker & Co., 82 Newgate Street, London, 1889.