pearl millet
Pennisetum glaucum Β· Poaceae
pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) is a perennial grass or grass-like plant in the Poaceae family. It is introduced to North America rather than native. USDA records it as hardy in zone 3 and warmer, down to about -35Β°F.
At a glance
| Type | graminoid USDA |
|---|---|
| Lifecycle | perennial USDA |
| Native status | introduced USDA |
| Mature height | 6 ft USDA |
| Light | full-sun USDA |
| Water need | low USDA |
| Growth rate | rapid USDA |
| Soil pH | 5.5β6.8 USDA |
| Bloom | July USDA |
| Flower color | Yellow USDA |
| Hardiness zones | 3 and warmer USDA |
| Guild layer | understory Derived |
| Nursery availability | Routinely Available USDA |
USDA quoted from the USDA PLANTS database Β· Derived computed by a fixed rule from those columns. No value on this page is estimated.
Growing conditions
It needs full sun. USDA rates it as having low water needs once established. It is recorded on soils from pH 5.5 to 6.8 β a broad range that spans acidic through mildly alkaline ground. Its cold limit is zone 3; USDA publishes no warm-end limit, so gardeners in warmer zones should check local heat tolerance separately.
Size and growth
At maturity it reaches about 6 ft, making it a low to knee-height plant. It grows quickly, which matters when you are timing a planting around the layers above it.
Bloom period
USDA records a bloom period of July. The flower color USDA records is yellow. Bloom timing is how the Guild Builder overlaps flowering across a planting so something is in flower for as much of the season as possible.
Bloom period is a claim about when this plant flowers. It is deliberately not a pollinator rating β no dataset we trust publishes one, so we do not make that claim. See Data & sources.
Role in a guild
Understory. In a layered planting this is the layer beneath the canopy, tall enough to hold structure but shaded from above. We derive the layer from the plant's growth habit and mature height using a fixed rule, so the same inputs always produce the same layer.
Tags
Related plants
Others in Pennisetum
- Chinese fountaingrass Pennisetum alopecuroides
- buffelgrass Pennisetum ciliare
- flaccidgrass Pennisetum flaccidum
- elephant grass Pennisetum purpureum
Similar role and hardiness
- showy milkweed Asclepias speciosa
- gray birch Betula populifolia
- bluejoint Calamagrostis canadensis
- fringed sedge Carex crinita
- greater straw sedge Carex normalis
Where this data comes from
Every value on this page comes from the USDA PLANTS database record for symbol PEGL2, or is computed from those values by a fixed rule. Nothing here is estimated or model-generated. Where USDA publishes no value, this page omits the claim rather than filling the gap.
bloom_endβ quoted from USDA PLANTSbloom_startβ quoted from USDA PLANTScommercial_availabilityβ quoted from USDA PLANTSdurationβ quoted from USDA PLANTSflower_colorβ quoted from USDA PLANTSgrowth_habitβ quoted from USDA PLANTSgrowth_rateβ quoted from USDA PLANTSguild_roleβ derived by rule from USDA columnsmature_height_ftβ quoted from USDA PLANTSmoistureβ quoted from USDA PLANTSnative_statusβ quoted from USDA PLANTSnitrogen_fixerβ quoted from USDA PLANTSpet_safeβ quoted from USDA PLANTSph_maxβ quoted from USDA PLANTSph_minβ quoted from USDA PLANTSshade_toleranceβ quoted from USDA PLANTStemperature_min_fβ quoted from USDA PLANTSzone_minβ quoted from USDA PLANTS
Read our full data sources and methodology.
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