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Sorghum (genus)

Genus of flowering plants From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sorghum (/ˈsɔːrɡəm/) or broomcorn is a genus of about 28 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Sorghum bicolor is grown as a cereal for human consumption and as animal fodder.

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Sorghum
S. bicolor
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Panicoideae
Tribe: Andropogoneae
Subtribe: Saccharinae
Genus: Sorghum
Moench 1794, conserved name not Sorgum Adanson 1763
Type species
S. bicolor
Synonyms[1]
  • Blumenbachia Koeler 1802, rejected name not Schrad. 1825 (Loasaceae)
  • Sarga Ewart
  • Vacoparis Spangler
  • Andropogon Hackel.
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Taxonomy

The Sorghum genus is in the grass family, Poaceae, in the subfamily Panicoideae, in the tribe Andropogoneae – the same as maize (Zea mays), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi), and sugarcane (Saccharum spp.). Accepted species recorded include:[2]

  • Sorghum amplum – northwestern Australia
  • Sorghum angustum – Queensland
  • Sorghum arundinaceum – Africa, Indian Subcontinent, Madagascar, islands of the western Indian Ocean
  • Sorghum bicolor – cultivated sorghum, also known as durra, jowari, or milo. Native to Sahel region of Africa; naturalized in many places
  • Sorghum brachypodum – Northern Territory of Australia
  • Sorghum bulbosum – Northern Territory, Western Australia
  • Sorghum burmahicum – Thailand, Myanmar
  • Sorghum controversum – India
  • Sorghum × drummondii – Sahel and West Africa
  • Sorghum ecarinatum – Northern Territory, Western Australia
  • Sorghum exstans – Northern Territory of Australia
  • Sorghum grande – Northern Territory, Queensland
  • Sorghum halepense – Johnson grass – North Africa, islands of eastern Atlantic, southern Asia from Lebanon to Vietnam; naturalized in East Asia, Australia, the Americas
  • Sorghum interjectum – Northern Territory, Western Australia
  • Sorghum intrans – Northern Territory, Western Australia
  • Sorghum laxiflorum – Philippines, Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi, New Guinea, northern Australia
  • Sorghum leiocladum – Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria
  • Sorghum macrospermum – Northern Territory of Australia
  • Sorghum matarankense – Northern Territory, Western Australia
  • Sorghum nitidum – East Asia, Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Micronesia
  • Sorghum plumosum – Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia
  • Sorghum propinquum – China, Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Christmas Island, Micronesia, Cook Islands
  • Sorghum purpureosericeum – Sahel from Mali to Tanzania; Yemen, Oman, India
  • Sorghum stipoideum – Northern Territory, Western Australia
  • Sorghum timorense – Lesser Sunda Islands, Maluku, New Guinea, northern Australia
  • Sorghum trichocladum – Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras
  • Sorghum versicolor – eastern + southern Africa from Ethiopia to Namibia; Oman
  • Sorghum virgatum – dry regions from Senegal to the Levant.

Phylogeny

The Sorghum genus is closely related to maize within the PACMAD clade of grasses, and more distantly to the cereals of the BOP clade such as wheat and barley.[3]

(Part of Poaceae)
BOP clade

Bambusoideae (bamboos)

Pooideae
other grasses

(fescue, ryegrass)

Triticeae

Hordeum (barley)

Triticum (wheat)

Secale (rye)

Oryza (rice)

PACMAD clade

Pennisetum (fountaingrasses, pearl millet)

Sorghum (sorghum)

Zea (maize)

Distribution

Seventeen of the 28 species are native to Australia,[4][5][6] with the range of some extending to Africa, Asia, Mesoamerica, and certain islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.[7][8]

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