Kempton: Coix and Sorghum 



399 



Forty seven samples of Coix lachryma 

 jobi L. from Eastern Asia have been 

 examined, as well as three samples 

 from the American hemisphere. These 

 samples embrace several varieties of 

 this species and include many of 

 cultivated forms. The seeds vary 

 greatly in size, shape, color, and 

 hardness of shell, and the plants of 

 those we have been able to grow are 

 little less v^ariable, some being grass- 

 like, with numerous stalks and nar- 

 row leaves, while others with a few 

 and thick culms and long broad leaves 

 have more the appearance of maize 

 or sorghum. 



Although the diversity in Coix is 

 great and it is possible to separate 

 the seeds into widely difTerent types, 

 even the most extreme forms are said 

 by Watt^ to intergrade under cultiva- 

 tion. Several species of Coix have 

 been described, but Watt accepts only 

 two, Coix giga77tea Koen, and Coix 

 lachryma-johi-L., while other authori- 

 ties consider all the known forms as 

 varieties of C. lachryma-johi. All culti- 

 vated forms are considered generally as 

 varieties of C. lachryma-johi, and those 

 with a thin, loose and easily broken 

 shell are known under the varietal 

 name of Ma- Yuen. Practically all of 

 the hard shell forms of C. lachryma-jobi 

 are duplicated in the soft shelled series 

 and Watt states that under continued 

 cultivation, the hard shelled forms 

 gradually become thin and papery. 

 Coix has been cultivated for centuries, 

 not only as a source of beads, but also 

 as an important cereal in Burma, 

 Assam, and northern India. As in 

 maize, cross pollination is the rule, and 

 it is not surprising, therefore, that with 

 soft and hard shell forms growing side 

 by side, few true breeding types are 

 found. That interbreeding is the ex- 

 planation of the change from hard to 

 soft shells under continued cultivation 

 is indicated by the hard shelled strain of 

 C. lachryma-jobi which has been culti- 

 vated for centuries in Europe and 

 America without losing to a noticeable 

 degree the hardness of the shell. 



The varietal names of the fifty 

 samples examined, as well as the 

 sources of the seed, the localities from 

 which they came, and the type of shell 

 and endosperm are shown in the preced- 

 ing table: 



Of the fifty samples, fourteen were 

 found to contain seeds with waxy en- 

 dosperm and of the.se eleven were from 

 Burma, one from China, one from 

 India, and one from the Philippines. 

 Thirteen of the fourteen were of the 

 soft shell type, but differed greatly in 

 other respects. Ten of the samples 

 from Burma contained waxy seeds 

 only, two contained but a small per- 

 centage of horny seed, while in the 

 samples from China, India, and the 

 Philippines waxy and horny seeds 

 were more nearly in equal numbers. 



The discovery of waxy endosperm in 

 Coix suggested the examination of the 

 seeds of a Chinese sorghum received 

 from Dr. Yam Yei Kin. This sample 

 proved to have both waxy and horny 

 seeds. A single panicle of Andropo- 

 gon sorghum- va. negrosense furnished 

 by Dr. Weston had waxy seeds only. 

 This sample was from Talim Island, 

 Lak of Bay, Laguna Prov., P. I., and 

 Dr. Weston states that the cultivation 

 of this variety is restrictetl to the 

 southern islands of the Philippines. 

 No attempt has been made to canvass 

 the other sorghums for this character, 

 athough an examination of two or three 

 of the commercial varieties showed only 

 seeds with horny endosperm. The 

 desirability of determining whether the 

 waxy texture of the endosperm is con- 

 fined to the Asiatic varieties of sorghum 

 needs no emphasis, and it is important 

 also that the wild species of Andropo- 

 gonae be examined since this type of 

 endosperm has been found thus far only 

 in cultivated forms. Neither Tripsa- 

 cum nor Euchlaena, the two American 

 wild relatives of maize, seem to hav'e 

 waxy endosperm, and its occurrence in 

 the Andropogonae and the Tripsaceae 

 of Eastern Asia may add to other 

 indications of the close relationship of 

 these families. 



^ Watt, Sir George. Coix spp or Job's tears. A review of all available information. \'ege- 

 table Product Series No. 88. The Agri. Ledger No. 13, 1804, pp. 513-553. 



