87 
32. SORGHUM. 
Fertile spikelet one-flowered, sessile between two pedicellate male or 
barren ones, at the end of the simple or divided branches of a terminal 
panicle, with one to five pairs or triplets of spikelets below the 
terminal three. 
Glumes on the fertile spikelets four, the outer one the largest, awn- 
less, lanceolate or broad, hard and shining, obscurely nerved ; second 
glume rather hard, keeled and acute; third glume shorter, very thin 
and hyaline ; fourth or terminal glume very thin, hyaline and two-lobed 
at the base, with an awn between the lobes, twisted in the lower half, 
bent above the middle as in Andropogon, 
Palea very small or none. Styles distinct. 
Grain enclosed in the hard and shining outer glumes, but free from 
them. 
Nodes glabrous or scarcely pubescent. Fruiting spikelets lanceo- 
late, nearly glabrous. Awn short and fine Pat =e .. lL. S. halepense. 
Nodes bearded. Fruiting spikelets lanceolate, 23 to 4 lines long, 
villous. Awn usually long. Ovary glabrous .., ef ... 2. S. plumosum. 
To this genus belongs Planter’s Friend or Imphee, Amber Cane, 
and other fodder plants. They have, from time to time, been reputed 
to have caused the death of stock, and the deaths have been attributed 
either to hoven, or to the presence of a specific poison (not hitherto 
isolated) in the plant. A note on the subject will be found at page 
251 of the Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales, for April, 1896. 
Attention has again been drawn to the subject by the publication of a 
paper by Vetermary-Captain H. T. Pease, in the Agricultural Ledger 
(1896, No. 24), Veterinary Series No. 23, published by the Indian 
Government, entitled ‘“ Poisoning of Cattle by the Juar Plant (Andro- 
pogon Sorghum).” This is a synonym of Sorghum vulgare, and the 
poisoning is attributed to the large deposits of nitrate of potash that, 
under certain conditions, are thrown down inthe stems. The death 
of stock by eating sorghum has not been attributed to this cause before, 
I believe, and the matter is worthy of careful consideration. At the 
same time, I believe that the matter has not reached finality, and we 
require absolute confirmation of Mr. Pease’s results. 
1. Sorghum halepense, Pers. 
Botanical name.—Sorghum, stated by some to be derived from an 
Indian word for a grain belonging to this genus ; but I cannot trace, 
with certainty, the Indian word. Halepensis, Aleppo (adjectival form). 
Synonym.—Andropogon halepensis, Sibth. 
Vernacular names.— Kivergreen Millet” is a name in use in the 
Sydney market (also in California), while Johnson-grass is the most 
widely-used name given to it in the United States. It isa much-named 
grass. Asiegards the names “ Aleppo-grass,” and “ Johnson-grass,” 
neither the former, after a place in Asia Minor, nor the latter, after 
the name of a gentleman who introduced its cultivation from one part 
of the United States to another (South Carolina to Alabama), would 
seem to be a suitable name for an Australian grass. A. A. Crozier, of 
