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Taxon:  Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn. subsp. coracana (Eleusine coracana Finger Millet Group)



Summary
Genus:
Eleusine
Family:
Poaceae (alt. Gramineae)
Subfamily:
Chloridoideae
Tribe:
Cynodonteae
Subtribe:
Eleusininae
Nomen number:
400471
Comment:
[or E. coracana Finger Millet Group]
Verified:
11/29/2011 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
0 (0  active, 0  available) in Australian Pastures Genebank. 
Other conspecific taxa
Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn. (17 active accession[s])
Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn. subsp. africana (Kenn.-O'Byrne) Hilu & de Wet (0 active accession[s])
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Basionym
Cynosurus coracanus L.

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Eleusine tocussa Fresen., nom. nud.
No images


Reference(s)
  1. de Wet, J. M. J. et al. 1984. Systematics and evolution of Eleusine coracana (Gramineae). Amer. J. Bot. 71:551.
  2. FNA Editorial Committee. Flora of North America. 1993-
  3. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
  4. Grubben, G. J. H. & Soetjipto Partohardjono, eds. 1996. Cereals. Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). 1989- 10:90-95.
  5. Hilu, K. W. & J. M. J. de Wet. 1976. Domestication of Eleusine coracana. Econ. Bot. 30:199-208.
  6. Hilu, K. W. et al. 1979. Archaeobotanical studies of Eleusine coracana ssp. coracana (Finger millet). Amer. J. Bot. 66:330-333.
  7. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  8. Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994
Common names
English
African millet –
caracan millet –
finger millet –
koracan –
French
coracan –
eleusine –
mil rouge –
raggee –
German
Fingerhirse –
India
ragi –
Portuguese
capim-colonial –
luco –
nachenim –
Spanish
coracán –
dagussa –
mijo africano –
Swahili
mwimbi –
ulezi –
Transcribed Chinese
can –
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
2CultivatedAfricaEast Tropical AfricaKenya  
2CultivatedAfricaEast Tropical AfricaTanzania  
2CultivatedAfricaEast Tropical AfricaUganda  
2CultivatedAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaChad  
2CultivatedAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaEritrea  
2CultivatedAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaEthiopia  
2CultivatedAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaSomalia  
2CultivatedAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaSudan  
2CultivatedAfricaNorthern AfricaAlgeria  
2CultivatedAfricaNorthern AfricaLibya  
2CultivatedAfricaNorthern AfricaTunisia  
2CultivatedAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaAngola  
2CultivatedAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaMalawi  
2CultivatedAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaMozambique  
2CultivatedAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaZambia  
2CultivatedAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaZimbabwe  
2CultivatedAfricaSouthern AfricaBotswana  
2CultivatedAfricaSouthern AfricaNamibia  
2CultivatedAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth Africa  
2CultivatedAfricaWest Tropical AfricaMali  
2CultivatedAfricaWest Tropical AfricaNiger  
2CultivatedAfricaWest Tropical AfricaNigeria  
2CultivatedAfricaWest Tropical AfricaSenegal  
2CultivatedAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaBurundi  
2CultivatedAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaCameroon  
2CultivatedAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaCentral African Republic  
2CultivatedAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaRwanda  
2CultivatedAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaZaire  
2CultivatedAfricaWestern Indian OceanMadagascar  
2CultivatedAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaOman  
2CultivatedAsia-TemperateCaucasusArmenia  
2CultivatedAsia-TemperateCaucasusGeorgia  
2CultivatedAsia-TemperateChinaChina  
2CultivatedAsia-TemperateEastern AsiaJapan  
2CultivatedAsia-TemperateEastern AsiaTaiwan  
2CultivatedAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaAfghanistan  
2CultivatedAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndia  
2CultivatedAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentNepal  
2CultivatedAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentSri Lanka  
2CultivatedAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaIndochina  
2CultivatedAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaMyanmar  
2CultivatedAsia-TropicalMalesiaIndonesiaJava 
2CultivatedAsia-TropicalMalesiaIndonesiaSumatra 
2CultivatedAsia-TropicalMalesiaMalaysia  
2CultivatedAsia-TropicalMalesiaPhilippines  
2CultivatedAustralasiaAustraliaAustraliaWestern Australia 
Cultivated
Africa
  • EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
  • NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Chad
  • NORTHERN AFRICA: Algeria, Libya, Tunisia
  • SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Angola, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe
  • SOUTHERN AFRICA: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa
  • WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal
  • WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Burundi, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Rwanda, Zaire
  • WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN: Madagascar
Asia-Temperate
  • ARABIAN PENINSULA: Oman
  • CAUCASUS: Armenia, Georgia
  • CHINA: China
  • EASTERN ASIA: Japan, Taiwan
  • WESTERN ASIA: Afghanistan
Asia-Tropical
  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India, Sri Lanka, Nepal
  • INDO-CHINA: Indochina, Myanmar
  • MALESIA: Indonesia [Java, Sumatra], Malaysia, Philippines
Australasia
  • AUSTRALIA: Australia [Western Australia]
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Animal foodfodder PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Animal foodforage PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Human foodbeverage base Hilu, K. W. & J. M. J. de Wet. 1976. Domestication of Eleusine coracana. Econ. Bot. 30:199-208.
Human foodcereal Hilu, K. W. & J. M. J. de Wet. 1976. Domestication of Eleusine coracana. Econ. Bot. 30:199-208.
Materialsfiber Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. Flora of China (English edition). 1994-
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://apg.pir.sa.gov.au/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=400471. Accessed 19 July 2025.


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