Sorghum halepense

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Cladus: Commelinids
Ordo: Poales

Familia: Poaceae
Subfamilia: Panicoideae
Tribus: Andropogoneae
Subtribus: Sorghinae
Genus: Sorghum
Sectio: Sorghum sect. Sorghum
Species: Sorghum halepense
Name

Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers., Syn. pl. 1: 101. (1805)
Synonyms

Basionym
Holcus halepensis L., Sp. Pl.: 1047 (1753)
Homotypic
Blumenbachia halepensis (L.) Koeler, Descr. Gramin.: 29 (1802).
Milium halepense (L.) Cav., Descr. Pl.: 306 (1802).
Andropogon halepensis (L.) Brot., Fl. Lusit. 1: 89 (1804).
Trachypogon avenaceus Nees in C.F.P.von Martius, Fl. Bras. Enum. Pl. 2: 354 (1829), nom. superfl.
Sorghum halepense var. genuinum Hack. in C.F.P.von Martius & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Bras. 2(4): 272 (1883), not validly publ.
Andropogon sorghum subsp. halepense (L.) Hack. in A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle, Monogr. Phan. 6: 501 (1889).
Andropogon sorghum subsp. halepensis (L.) Hack. in A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle, Monogr. Phan. 6: 501 (1889).
Andropogon sorghum var. halepensis (L.) Hack. in A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle, Monogr. Phan. 6: 502 (1889).
Andropogon halepensis var. genuinus Stapf in J.D.Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 7: 183 (1896), not validly publ.
Sorghum saccharatum var. halepense (L.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 3(3): 368 (1898).
Rhaphis halepensis (L.) Roberty, Fl. Ouest-Afr.: 403 (1954).
Heterotypic
Holcus exiguus Forssk., Fl. Aegypt.-Arab.: 174 (1775).
Holcus decolorans Willd., Sp. Pl., ed. 4, 4: 931 (1806).
Sorghum decolor P.Beauv., Ess. Agrostogr.: 131 (1812), nom. nud.
Andropogon avenaceus Kunth in F.W.H.von Humboldt, A.J.A.Bonpland & C.S.Kunth, Nov. Gen. Sp. 1: 189 (1816), orth. var.
Andropogon decolorans (Willd.) Kunth in F.W.H.von Humboldt, A.J.A.Bonpland & C.S.Kunth, Nov. Gen. Sp. 1: 190 (1816).
Sorghum decolorans (Willd.) Roem. & Schult., Syst. Veg., ed. 15 bis 2: 838 (1817).
Andropogon miliaceus Roxb., Fl. Ind. 1: 276 (1820).
Andropogon miliformis Schult., Mant. 2: 448 (1824), nom. superfl.
Sorghum crupina Link, Hort. Berol. 1: 246 (1827).
Andropogon crupina (Link) Kunth, Révis. Gramin. 1: 166 (1829).
Andropogon tumbackianus Roxb. ex Kunth, Enum. Pl. 1: 507 (1833), pro syn.
Sorghum schreberi Ten., Syll. Pl. Fl. Neapol., App. 4: iv (1835).
Sorghum halepense var. crupina (Link) Steud., Nomencl. Bot., ed. 2, 2: 612 (1841).
Sorghum dubium K.Koch, Linnaea 21: 443 (1848).
Andropogon dubitatus Steud., Syn. Pl. Glumac. 1: 394 (1854).
Sorghum halepense var. latifolium Willk. in M.Willkomm & J.M.C.Lange, Prodr. Fl. Hispan. 1: 48 (1861).
Sorghum halepense var. schreberi (Ten.) Nyman, Consp. Fl. Eur.: 785 (1882).
Andropogon sorghum subvar. genuinus Hack. in A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle, Monogr. Phan. 6: 502 (1889), not validly publ.
Andropogon sorghum subvar. leiocladus Hack. in A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle, Monogr. Phan. 6: 514 (1889).
Andropogon sorghum subvar. muticus Hack. in A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle, Monogr. Phan. 6: 502 (1889).
Andropogon sorghum subvar. trachycladus Hack. in A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle, Monogr. Phan. 6: 514 (1889).
Andropogon dubius K.Koch ex B.D.Jacks., Index Kew. 1: 125 (1893), orth. var.
Andropogon halepensis var. effusus Stapf in J.D.Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 7: 183 (1896).
Andropogon halepensis var. muticus (Hack.) Asch. & Graebn., Syn. Mitteleur. Fl. 2(1): 47 (1898).
Sorghum halepense subvar. submuticum Rendle in W.P.Hiern, Cat. Afr. Pl. 2: 150 (1899).
Andropogon sorghum var. perennis Bertoni, Revista Agron. Ci. Aplicadas 41: 7 (1909).
Sorghum halepense var. aristatum Goiran, Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital., n.s., 17: 39 (1910).
Sorghum halepense var. coloratum Goiran, Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital., n.s., 17: 39 (1910).
Sorghum halepense var. lasiostachyum Goiran, Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital., n.s., 17: 39 (1910).
Sorghum halepense var. majus Goiran, Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital., n.s., 17: 39 (1910).
Sorghum halepense var. minus Goiran, Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital., n.s., 17: 39 (1910).
Andropogon halepensis subsp. anatherus Piper, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 28: 28 (1915).
Andropogon halepensis var. anatherus Piper, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 28: 28 (1915).
Andropogon sorghum var. exiguus (Forssk.) Piper, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 28: 32 (1915).
Sorghum halepense var. muticum (Hack.) Grossh., Fl. Kavkaza 1: 56 (1928).
Sorghum halepense f. muticum (Hack.) C.E.Hubb., Hooker's Icon. Pl. 34: t. 3364 (1938).
Sorghum miliaceum (Roxb.) Snowden, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 55: 205 (1955).
Sorghum miliaceum var. parvispiculum Snowden, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 55: 209 (1955).

References

Persoon, C.H. Synopsis Plantarum: seu Enchiridium botanicum, complectens enumerationem systematicam specierum hucusque cognitarum 1: 101.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2021. Sorghum halepense in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Aug. 6. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2021. Sorghum halepense. Published online. Accessed: Aug. 6 2021.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Sorghum halepense in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 07-Oct-06.

Vernacular names
беларуская: Гумай
English: Johnson Grass
suomi: Jonsonindurra
magyar: Fenyércirok
македонски: Алепски сирак
Nederlands: wilde sorgo
português: maçambará, peripomonga, sorgo-de-alepo
lea faka-Tonga: kola

Johnson grass or Johnsongrass, Sorghum halepense, is a plant in the grass family, Poaceae, native to Asia and northern Africa.[1] The plant has been introduced to all continents except Antarctica, and most larger islands and archipelagos. It reproduces by rhizomes and seeds.

Johnson grass has been used for forage and to stop erosion, but it is often considered a weed because:

Foliage that becomes wilted from frost or hot, dry weather can contain sufficient amounts of hydrogen cyanide to kill cattle and horses if it is eaten in quantity.
The foliage can cause 'bloat' in such herbivores from the accumulation of excessive nitrates; otherwise, it is edible.
It grows and spreads rapidly, it can 'choke out' other cash crops planted by farmers.

This species occurs in crop fields, pastures, abandoned fields, rights-of-way, forest edges, and along streambanks. It thrives in open, disturbed, rich, bottom ground, particularly in cultivated fields. Johnson grass that is resistant to the common herbicide glyphosate has been found in Argentina and the United States.[2][3][4] It is considered to be one of the ten worst weeds in the world.[5] In the United States, Johnson grass is listed as either a noxious or quarantined weed in 19 states.[6] With Sorghum bicolor it is a parent of Sorghum × almum, a forage crop also considered a weed in places.[7]

It is named after an Alabama plantation owner, Colonel William Johnson, who sowed its seeds on river-bottom farm land circa 1840. The plant was already established in several US states a decade earlier, having been introduced as a prospective forage or accidentally as a seedlot contaminant.[8][9][10]

In early 20th century Talladega County, there were mixed feelings about Johnson grass. It was considered a nutritious, palatable and productive forage, but many farmers still found it undesirable. Fields of this grass fell into a "sod bound" state of insufficient new growth unless they were plowed every two or three seasons.[11]

A genetic study employing microsatellite markers has investigated Johnsongrass populations across 12 states and confirmed that the weed was introduced to US from Alabama and North Carolina. Moreover, the study also detected an unreported independent introduction from Arizona. After trans-continental railroad building the two founding populations began to intermix at around Texas shifting diversity from centers of introduction.[12]

The 1889 book The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that Sorghum halepense is a "strong, erect-growing species, varying from two to ten feet high, succulent when young, a splendid grass for a cattle run, though not much sought after by sheep. It is a free seeder. The settlers on the banks of the Hawkesbury (New South Wales) look upon it as a recent importation, and seed of it has been distributed under the name of Panicum speciabile. (WooUs) Coast of Queensland, New South Wales, and Western Australia."[13]
A rhizome of Sorghum halepense
References

"Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science".
Western Farm Press. Johnsongrass resistance to glyphosate confirmed in Argentina, Aug 28, 2006. (accessed 2010.01.06)
Monsanto. Glyphosate-resistant Johnsongrass Confirmed in Two Locations Archived 2011-07-14 at the Wayback Machine, March 12, 2008. (accessed 2010.01.06)
Delta Farm Press. Glyphosate-resistant Johnsongrass in Mid-South Archived 2008-05-11 at the Wayback Machine, March 19, 2008 (accessed 2010.01.06)
BugwoodWiki [1] Holm, L. G., P. Donald, J. V. Pancho, and J. P. Herberger. 1977. The World's Worst Weeds: Distribution and Biology. The University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii. 609 pp.
"Sorghum Halepense". usda.gov. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
Heuzé, V.; Tran, G.; Baumont, R. (11 May 2015). "Columbus grass (Sorghum x almum)". Feedipedia – Animal Feed Resources Information System. Feedipedia, a programme by INRAE, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
Dept of Soil and Crop Science, Texas A & M University
Ohio State Uni. Agricultural Research and Development Center
Sezen, U.U. (2016). "Multi-Phase US Spread and Habitat Switching of a Post-Columbian Invasive, Sorghum halepense". PLOS ONE. 11 (10): e0164584. doi:10.1080/00049158.1993.10674627. PMC 5068735. PMID 27755565.
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/ Mooney, Charles N. and Mann, Charles J. (1907). Soil Survey of Talladega County, Alabama, pp. 407-408.
Sezen, U.U. (2016). "Multi-Phase US Spread and Habitat Switching of a Post-Columbian Invasive, Sorghum halepense". PLOS ONE. 11 (10): e0164584. doi:10.1080/00049158.1993.10674627. PMC 5068735. PMID 27755565.
J. H. Maiden (1889). The useful native plants of Australia : Including Tasmania. Turner and Henderson, Sydney.