Table 1.
Passport information on the plants studied.
Figure 1.
Illustrations of spikelet and grain of millets with botanical terms.
Figure 2.
Comparison of phytolith morphology in the lower lemma and glume for Foxtail millet and Common millet.
(A), (C) Cross-shaped type of phytoliths from S. italica; (B), (D) Bilobe-shaped type of phytoliths from P. miliaceum.
Figure 3.
Comparison of the characteristics of deposited silicon in the surface of the upper lemma for the two millet species.
(A) Foxtail millet upper lemma produces papillae. (B) Common millet upper lemma does not produce papillae.
Figure 4.
Papillae distribution on surfaces of the upper lemma from Foxtail millet.
(A) Weak papillae formed on surfaces of the upper lemma are peculiar to some S. italica. (B) No papillae area also formed on surfaces of the upper lemma from some S. italica.
Figure 5.
Comparison of the characteristics of deposited silicon in the surface of the palea for the two millet species.
(A) Regularly arranged papillae formed on center surfaces of the palea are peculiar to S. italica. (B) Surfaces of the palea of Common millet do not produce papillae.
Figure 6.
Comparison of the undulated patterns of epidermal long cells in the upper lemma and palea for two the millet species.
(A) The epidermal long cell walls are Ω-undulated in S. italica, and (B) η-undulated in P. miliaceum.
Figure 7.
Undulated patterns transformation of epidermal long cell walls in the upper lemma and palea of Foxtail millet.
(A), (B), and (C) showing the different designs of phytoliths at center, base, and side of lemma of Foxtail millet, respectively.
Figure 8.
Undulated patterns transformation of epidermal long cell walls in the upper lemma and palea of Common millet.
(A), (B), and (C) showing the different designs of phytoliths at side, base to side, and center of lemma of Common millet, respectively.
Figure 9.
Comparison of the endings structures of epidermal long cells in the upper lemma and palea for the two millet species.
(A) Cross wavy type of Foxtail millet. (B) Cross finger type of Common millet.
Figure 10.
Bivariate biplot of R and W values of measurements from epidermal long cells of both species (P. miliaceum and S. italica).
Table 2.
Measured data of dendriform epidermal long cells for modern Common millet and Foxtail millet.
Figure 11.
Diverse silicon deposits occur at different cell layers in epidermal long cell of the upper lemma from Foxtail millet.
(A) Transection of lemma and palea of S. italica showing the following: es: extracellular sheet (keratose layer), oe: outer epidermis, hf: hypoderm fibres, vb: vascular bundle, sm: spongy mesophyll, and ie: inner epidermis. (B) Heavy silicon surface ridgy line sculpture with adnate silicon extracellular sheet and outer epidermis.
Figure 12.
Diverse silicon deposits occur at different cell layers in epidermal long cell of the upper lemma from Common millet.
(A) Transection of lemma and palea of P. miliaceum showing the following: es: extracellular sheet (keratose layer), oe: outer epidermis, hf: hypoderm fibres, vb: vascular bundle, sm: spongy mesophyll, and ie: inner epidermis. (B) Surface spotted sculpture with adnate silicon extracellular sheet and outer epidermis. (C) Surface saw-toothed sculpture with adnate silicon outer epidermis and hypoderm fibres.
Figure 13.
Comparison of the adnate silicon surface sculpture in the upper lemma for two millets.
(A) Heavy silicon surface ridgy line sculpture in different Ω-types from Foxtail millet. (B) Surface spotted sculpture in different η-types from Common millet. es: extracellular sheet (keratose layer).
Figure 14.
Comparison of micromorphology of lemma for P. bisulcatum (A), (B), (C), S. italica (D), S. viridis (E), and S. plicata (F).
Table 3.
Comparison of the characteristics of phytoliths in inflorescences bracts for the Foxtail millet and Common millet.