During the Woodland era, this widespread southern annual (or winter annual) appears to have been widely used for its edible seed in the central Mississippi and Ohio Valleys, based on analysis of archaeological sites. However, this species is now uncommon in southeastern states except on base-rich soils of the Gulf Coastal Plain. Moreover, the technical characters for distinguishing seed of caroliniana from arundinacea have not been clearly demonstrated in relevant literature, and some of the archaeological and historical interpretations may need to be questioned (FNA 24; Ford 1985, LaRoche 2007, Anon. 2020). The few Ky. colls. in herbaria are mostly from broad river terraces in western regions, with almost none dated after 1970; see colls. of R. Athey (mostly at MEM). Archaeological reports include several from the Red River area of MENI and nearby, where the caroliniana is completely unknown today (Ford 1985); however, arundinacea is locally common along some streams in this region. There is no evidence of human selection of caroliniana for seed size or other characters.