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Index / Search / Pennisetum glaucum

§1 Plant

Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.

vernacular pearl millet — species · Poaceae

USDA
PEGL2
GBIF
5828197 syn.
Rank
species
pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum)
Platephotograph · no rights reservedCC0 · public domain source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Graminoid
Duration
Annual, Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus
Pennisetum
§2a

Native status, by region

  • L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
  • PB Pacific Basin (except Hawaii) Introduced
  • PR Puerto Rico Introduced
§2b

County-level range

· 1,220 counties across 35 states/territories
Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 1220 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
High
Moisture use
Low
Fire
None
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-35 °F minimum
Frost-free days
200 min.
Precipitation
30–50 in/yr
pH range
5.5–6.8
Root depth
10 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Bunch
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
6 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Moderate
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Summer
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
82,320
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
High
Graze palatability
High
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Medium
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1,220 counties across 35 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 8 I ▾
Arizona view state ↗ 8 I ▾
Arkansas view state ↗ 46 I ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 1 I ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Florida view state ↗ 20 I ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 16 I ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 102 I ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 72 I ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 40 I ▾
Kansas view state ↗ 85 I ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 50 I ▾
Louisiana view state ↗ 20 I ▾
Maine view state ↗ 14 I ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 14 I ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 35 I ▾
Minnesota view state ↗ 56 I ▾
Mississippi view state ↗ 3 I ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 64 I ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 51 I ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 9 I ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 11 I ▾
New York view state ↗ 47 I ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 68 I ▾
North Dakota view state ↗ 33 I ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 6 I ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 66 I ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 3 I ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 23 I ▾
South Dakota view state ↗ 20 I ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 40 I ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 12 I ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 68 I ▾
West Virginia view state ↗ 43 I ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 65 I ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/PEGL2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5828197 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T08:39:52Z