Digitaria compacta

(Roth ex Roem. & Schult.) Veldkamp

PoaceaeSeeds/Nuts

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Wikimedia Commons - Krzysztof Golik

What to Eat

Edible parts: Seeds, Cereal

The seeds are harvested and used as a cereal grain for food.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant.

Asia, India, Indochina, Myanmar, Northeastern India, SE Asia,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bhutan, China, Georgia, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mongolia, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

How to Identify

An annual millet grass. It grows 80-90 cm tall. The stalks have 8-12 nodes. The leaf blade is 15-30 cm long by 5-10 mm wide. The leaves are hairy. There are 5-20 flowering stalks. They are 5-10 cm long. The spikelets are in threes.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Digitaria compacta is a grass species native to India and Indochina. It is cultivated in the Khasi Hills of northeast India, used as a glutinous flour for making bread or porridge, and known as raishan. It is cultivated in maize fields by sowing in April-May and harvesting the grain in September-October; the straw is harvested later after the other crops in the field have been harvested. It is often cooked like rice or even with rice (1 part raishan to two parts rice). The straw is used for winter fodder for cattle.