Species · Poaceae

Sorghum

Sorghum bicolor. Poaceae, genus Sorghum. What this plant is called and where it is recorded, plus the published numbers the keystone holds so far.

Rank
species
Names
94 in 34 languages
Numbers
4 (4 with a source)
Keystone status
partial

Names

Scientific synonyms (17): Andropogon bicolor (L.) Roxb., Andropogon sorghum (L.) Brot., Andropogon sorghum var. bicolor (L.) Körn., Andropogon sorghum var. vulgaris Hack., Andropogon vulgaris Raspail, Holcus bicolor L., Holcus sorghum L., Milium bicolor (L.) Cav., Milium sorghum (L.) Cav., Panicum frumentaceum Salisb., Rhaphis sorghum (L.) Roberty, Sorghum saccharatum var. bicolor (L.) Kerguélen, Sorghum saccharatum var. vulgare Kuntze, Sorghum sorghum (L.) H.Karst., Sorghum vulgare Pers., Sorghum vulgare subsp. bicolor (L.) Maire & Weiller, Sorghum vulgare var. bicolor (L.) Pers..

English: broomcorn, Creole Corn, Forage Sorghum, Giant-millet, Great Millet, great-millet, Guinea Corn, Millet-corn, Rhodesian Sudan Grass, Sorghum, Sorghums.

In other languages

  • Afrikaans: Wildegraansorghum
  • Arabic: ذرة بيضاء
  • Chinese: 有尾髙粱, 罗氏高粱, 蜀黍, 高梁, 高梁米糠, 高粱
  • Croatian: Sirak metlaš
  • Czech: Čirok dvoubarevný, čirok obecný
  • Danish: Almindellig Durra, Ægte durra
  • Dutch: Grote sorgo, Kafferkoren
  • Estonian: harilik sorgo
  • Finnish: kirjodurra
  • French: gran-millet, Millet à balai, millet grand, Sorgho, Sorgho bicolore, Sorgho bicolore, Sorgho commun, Millet à balai, Sorgho cultivé, Sorgho commun, Sorgho commun, Maïs cafre, Mapimbe, sorgho-sucré
  • German: Echte Mohrenhirse, Echte Sorghumhirse, Mohrenhirse, Zweifarbige Mohrenhirse
  • Hungarian: bókoló cirok, cirok, tönkölykása
  • Italian: Sorgo coltivato
  • Japanese: モロコシ
  • Korean: 수수
  • Lithuanian: Dvispalvis sorgas
  • Norwegian (Bokmål): durra
  • Norwegian (Nynorsk): durra
  • Polish: Sorgo dwubarwne
  • Portuguese: capim-massambará, massambará, milho-da-guiné, milho-sorgo, Sorgo, sorgo-cafre, sorgo-das-vassouras, sorgo-de-espiga, sorgo-de-vassoura, sorgo-doce, sorgo-negro-da-áfrica
  • Russian: Гаолян, Сорго двуцветное
  • Slovak: cirok dvojfarebný
  • Slovene: navadni sirek
  • Spanish: Sorgo africano
  • Swedish: durra, kvastdurra
  • Tamil: சோளம்
  • Telugu: జొన్న
  • Turkish: Süpürge darisi
  • Welsh: Sorgwm
  • en: grain sorghum
  • hau: Abantoko
  • mlt: Qaraboċċ
  • nor: durra

Names with no language recorded: black amber, broom-corn, broomcorn, chicken corn, Mainshi Chikí, Mainshi di Rabu, Mainshi di Shete Siman, Mainshi Rabo, Maishi Rabu, Maishi Shikitu, milo, shatter cane, shattercane, sorghum, Tapushi.

Where it is recorded

Taxonomy record sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), POWO (CC BY 4.0), USDA_PLANTS_GATE2 (Public Domain). Loaded from the botanica open cultivated-plant knowledge base and the GBIF backbone; each row keeps its origin.

Growth stages

  • Initial: about 20 days (FAO 56 Table 11: planted May/June, USA, Pakis., Med.)
  • Crop development: about 35 days (FAO 56 Table 11: planted May/June, USA, Pakis., Med.)
  • Mid-season: about 40 days (FAO 56 Table 11: planted May/June, USA, Pakis., Med.)
  • Late season: about 30 days (FAO 56 Table 11: planted May/June, USA, Pakis., Med.)

What the sources say it wants

Each line shows the band, then the kind of source and the citation. "Published" means the number is printed on the cited page; "derived" means it was computed from published numbers with the formula recorded on the row; "external API" rows are refreshed nightly from a live source; "curated" rows are OAT's own working values from June 2026.

Whole cycle

ZoneMeasureBandSource
Root zoneRoot-zone EC (dS/m)up to 6.8 (warning above 7.4, alert above 8.4)published: FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 29, 1985

Initial

ZoneMeasureBandSource
TimingCrop coefficient, initial stage (ratio)0.3published: FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56, 1998

Mid-season

ZoneMeasureBandSource
TimingCrop coefficient, mid-season (ratio)1 to 1.1published: FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56, 1998

Late season

ZoneMeasureBandSource
TimingCrop coefficient, end of season (ratio)0.55published: FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56, 1998

Cultivar groups with their own numbers

The species row above carries the species-level bands. These groups differ enough in the sources that they keep their own rows.

Sorghum (sweet)

  • Crop coefficient, end of season (ratio): 1.05 published: FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56, 1998
  • Crop coefficient, initial stage (ratio): 0.3 published: FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56, 1998
  • Crop coefficient, mid-season (ratio): 1.2 published: FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56, 1998

Keystone status

Partial. The KEEP rule asks for a growth stage and a band in each of light, air and root zone before a crop counts as complete; this plant is in the keystone with what its sources give so far.

Generated 2026-09-15 from the OAT plant keystone. Source types and citations are carried on every row; the keystone snapshot that the Library instruments read is plant-targets.json and its quality sheet is plant-targets.quality.json.