The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia’ records that Panicum Colonum, (an earlier name for this plant) had common names which included "Shama Millet" of India; called also, in parts of India, "Wild Rice" or "Jungle Rice" and that it "Has erect stems from two to eight feet high, and very succulent. The panicles are used by the aboriginals [sic.] as an article of food. The seeds are pounded between stones, mixed with water, and formed into a kind of bread.