Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) like rice and proso millet is among the first crops of China. The cultivated form of foxtail millet probably originated not only in China but also in other parts of Asia from the wild form the green foxtail (Setaria viridis). The wild forms at maturity easily drop their fruits. Cultivated forms hold onto their fruits.
The foxtail millet in the Alps appeared much later than the proso millet. The first finds come from the Bronze Age about 1,800 B.C. The foxtail millet needs a bit more warmth than the proso millet. In the Rhine valley the cultivation line was about 800m. Conspicuous is the cylinder-like ordering of the small branches. The rounded corns are not much smaller than these of the proso millet.