Sorghum halepense
Johnson grass
50-200 cm tall, 0.4-2 cm thick;
nodes appressed pubescent;
internodes glabrous.
10-50 cm long, 5-25 cm wide, primary branches compound, terminating in rames of 1-5 spikelet pairs;
disarticulation usually beneath the sessile spikelets, sometimes also beneath the pedicellate spikelets.
not exposed at maturity.
1.8-3.3 mm.
2-6 mm, membranous, conspicuously ciliate;
blades 10-90 cm long, 8-40 mm wide.
spikelets bisexual, 3.8-6.5 mm long, 1.5-2.3 mm wide;
calluses blunt;
glumes indurate, shiny, appressed pubescent;
upper lemmas unawned, or with a geniculate, twisted awn to 13 mm;
anthers 1.9-2.7 mm.
spikelets staminate, 3.6-5.6 mm;
glumes membranous to coriaceous, unawned.
= 20, 40;
several dysploid counts also reported.
Sorghum halepense
Sorghum halepense is native to the Mediterranean region. It is sometimes grown for forage in North America, but it is considered a serious weed in warmer parts of the United States. It hybridizes readily with S. bicolor, and derivatives of such hybrids are widespread. The annual Sorghum xalmum Parodi, which has wider (2-2.8 mm) sessile spikelets with more veins in the lower glumes (13-15 versus 10-13) than S. halepense, is one such derivative.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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