In the present study, the characteristics of 25 samples of fox-tail
millet (Setaria italica P. Beauv.) from Southern Formosa-12 from
Kinuran, a Rukai village, and 13 from Zheng-Xing, an Eastern
Paiwan village—were compared with 6 samples from the Batan
Islands, Philippines. The seedlings, obtained from these samples,
were experimentally planted in field and glasshouse. Fourteen
characteristics of each sample were observed and compared:
anthocyan pigmentation of seedlings, length/width ratio of the
fourth leaf, number of tillers, plant height, number of leaves,
number of days from sowing to heading, length and width of flag
leaf, and of spike, spike shape, bristles of spikelets, lemma color of
sterile floret, lemma color of fertile floret, starch grain character
of endosperm, and color of anther.
The samples from the two Formosan villages showed a similar
pattern of variation in many of the characteristics but a high contrast
with the fox-tail millet from the Batan Islands. Among the
characteristics compared, the starch grain of endosperm in the
Formosan millet was predominantly of glutinous (waxy), whereas
glutinous endosperm was not found in the samples from the Batan
Islands.
It was observed therefore that an obvious gap occurs in the
geographical distribution of fox-tail millet with glutinous endosperm
at the Bashi Channel, between Formosa (including the Lan Yu
Islands) and the Batan Islands. It is assumed that this difference
is related to the importance of the glutinous variety in the religious
life of the native tribes of the Formosan mountains and the Lan Yii
Islands. Among the possible early routes by which glutinous foxtail
millet reached Formosa, dispersal from the mountainous
regions between southwest China and Assam to Formosa, across
the South China Sea, is discussed.
台湾南部山地およびバタン諸島のアワの特性とその民族植物学的考察
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