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Coix lacryma-jobi
Also called Adlay, Adlay Millet, Jacob's Tears, Job's Tear
In Singapore: Job's Tears, Gromwell Reed, Pearl Barley, Corn Bead, Coix Millet, 川谷, 野米仁, 野薏仁, 野薏米 (Grown in Singapore)
Job's tears is a tall, grass-like plant grown for its hard, bead-like seed shells and starchy grain, often treated as an annual in gardens. It needs warm, humid, frost-free conditions and plenty of room, as it can reach 1.2 to 1.8 m.
Job's tears (Coix lacryma-jobi), also known as adlay or adlay millet, is a tall grain-bearing perennial tropical plant of the family Poaceae (grass family). It is native to Southeast Asia and introduced to Northern China and India in remote antiquity, and elsewhere cultivated in gardens as an annual. It has been naturalized in the southern United States and the New World tropics. In its native environment it is grown at higher elevation areas where rice and corn do not grow well. Job's tears are also commonly sold as Chinese pearl barley, though true barley belongs to a completely different genus.
There are two main varieties of the species, one wild and one cultivated. The wild variety, Coix lacryma-jobi var. lacryma-jobi, has hard-shelled pseudocarps—very hard, pearly white, oval structures used as beads for making prayer beads or rosaries, necklaces, and other objects.
The seeds of Job's tears contain protein, dietary fibre, zinc, and calcium, among other micronutrients.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Job's tears by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
