Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
SORGHUM BICOLOR
Botanical Name —
Sorghum bicolor
( L.) Moench
Synonyms —
Sorghum vulgare
Pers.,
S. drummondii
,
S. guineense
, S
. roxburghii, S. nervosum,
S. dochna, S. caffrorum, S. nigricans, S. caudatum, S. durra, S.cernuum, S. subglabrescens
, and
many varieties and crossbreeds
Family —
Poaceae
Common Names —
Guinea corn, chicken corn, great millet, sorghum, milo, sorgo, sudangrass
African Names —
East Africa: mtama, shallu, feterita; Egypt: durra; South Africa: kafir corn;
Sudan: durra, feterita; West Africa: great millet, guinea corn, feterita. Other indigenous names are
usually for the various millet varieties, especially pearl millet,
Pennisetum glaucum
. The names do
not denote taxonomic differentiation or group but rather a functional or agronomic classification.
Description —
Sorghum is a cane-like grass that grows up to 6 m tall. Most are annuals; a few
are perennials. Their stems are usually erect and may be dry or juicy. The juice may be either insipid
or sweet. Most have a single stem, but some varieties tiller profusely, sometimes putting up more
than a dozen stems. These extra stems may be produced early or late in the season. Plants that tiller
after the harvest has occurred can be cut back, allowed to resprout, and grown without replanting
(like sugarcane). Leaves are alternate, simple; the leaf sheath is 15-35 cm long, often with a waxy
bloom, with a band of short white hairs at the base near the attachment, reddish in dye cultivars,
and auricled; the ligule is short, about 2 mm long, and ciliate on upper free edge; the blade is lan-
ceolate to linear-lanceolate, 30-135 × 1.5-13 cm, initially erect, later curving, with margins flat or
wavy. Inflorescence occurs as a terminal panicle up to 60 cm long; the rachis is short or long, with
primary, secondary, and sometimes tertiary branches, with spikelets in pairs and in groups of 3 at
the ends of branches. Fruit is a caryopsis (grain), usually partially covered by glumes, 4-8 mm in
diameter, rounded and bluntly pointed. Soil permitting, the plant produces a deep taproot; some
have a large number of multibranched lateral roots.
