Piptatherum thomasii, Piptatherum miliaceum,
Millet grass, נשרן צפוף

Scientific name:		Piptatherum thomasii (Duby) Kunth
Synonym name:		Piptatherum miliaceum (L.) Coss. var. thomasii (Duby) Freitag
Common name:		Millet grass
Hebrew name:		נשרן צפוף
Family:		Graminea (Poaceae), Grass Family, משפחת הדגניים

Life form:		Hemicryptophyte
Stems:		Culms often branched
Leaves:		Alternate, rosette, entire
Inflorescence:		Panicle; spikelets with 1 bisexual lemma, rhachilla (=a branch of inflorescence) articulated above the glumes
Flowers:		Green
Fruits / pods:		Caryopses
Flowering Period:		February, March, April, May, June, July
Habitat:		Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands
Chorotype:		Mediterranean
Summer shedding:		Perennating

Derivation of the botanical name: Piptatherum, pipto, "to fall", and ather, "stalk". thomasii, after Major George Henry Thomas (1816 - 1870), stationed at Fort Yuma about 1850, and later as a general a Civil War hero called the Rock of Chickamauga. miliaceum, pertaining to millet; millet-like. The Hebrew name: נשרן, nasran, formed from נשר, nashar (=to fall out). The standard author abbreviation Duby is used to indicate Jean Étienne Duby (1798 – 1885), a Swiss Evangelical priest in Geneve and botanist (worked on cryptogams). The standard author abbreviation Kunth is used to indicate Carl Sigismund Kunth (1788 – 1850), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy. The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy. The standard author abbreviation Coss. is used to indicate Ernest Saint-Charles Cosson (1819 – 1889), a French botanist. The standard author abbreviation Freitag is used to indicate Helmut Freitag (born Berlin 1932), a German botanist