Panicum sonorum in Sonoran Desert agriculture

Evidence of prehistoric domestication of plants native to southwestern United States is rare. Presented here are archaeological, historic and contemporary ethnobotanical data suggesting that a native grain, Panicum sonorum, was harvested, sown and culturally selected in the Sonoran Desert Region. This indicator crop, other new clarifications of indigenous crops, and water management practices all point to the distinctiveness of the region's agricultural complex. As redefined here, the Sonoran Desert Agricultural Region is diverse in both native crops and in cultivars of introduced crops originating elsewhere.