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Wood Millet
Milium effusum
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Wood Millet is a tall, soft-leaved woodland grass that grows in loose clumps. Its light, open, drooping spray of flowers gives it a delicate look. It is most often seen in rich, moist forests and shady groves across much of Europe and northern Asia. When dried, it smells pleasantly of sweet hay.
Did you know?
- When dried it smells strongly of sweet hay (the scent comes from coumarin).
- Despite its name, it isn’t a crop millet but a wild woodland grass.
About the species
Identification
Perennial grass forming loose clumps, 50–150 cm tall. Stems upright, smooth and hollow. Leaves flat, blue‑green and dull, 6–15 mm wide, soft to the touch but slightly rough along the edges; tips short‑pointed and often droop. Flower spray 15–30 cm, open and airy: the slender side branches spread then bend downward, with small pale green groups at their tips. Later it sets tiny grains. When dried, the plant smells sweet, like new‑mown hay. Look‑alikes: compared with sweet vernal grass, wood millet has much broader leaves and a looser, larger, hanging flower spray. Flowers in Finland in June–July.
Plant group
Grasses, sedges and rushes
Habitat
herb-rich forest
Flowering
Jun–Jul
About the habitat
Prefers moist, nutrient-rich broadleaf and mixed woods, shady groves, streamside woods and other damp, fertile, lightly shaded places. Common in most of the country, rarer in northern Lapland.
Sources
Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Milium effusum kz05.jpg
Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Tunturit: tunturikoivikot, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40637
Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Tunturit: tunturiniityt, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40637
Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesma
