10 BULLETIN" 981, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



whereas that of Sudan grass is nearly glabrous. The seed shatters 

 easily, but not so readily as seed of Tunis grass or tabucki grass. A 

 study of Kamerun grass in row plantings at various field stations 

 has indicated that it can not compete successfully with Sudan grass 

 in the United States. It may have some value, however, for cross- 

 ing with Sudan grass or the sorghums. 



TABUCKI GRASS. 



Seed of tabucki grass (Andropogon sorghum verticillijiorus (Steudel) 

 Piper) was obtained as S. P. I. No. 38866 from I. B. Pole Evans, 

 Pretoria, South Africa, in 1915. It is a variable grass which appears 

 indigenous to southeastern Africa from Mount Kilimanjaro to the 

 Cape. Numerous specimens are also recorded from adjacent islands 

 in the Indian Ocean. 



Later importations of tabucki grass were received as follows: 

 S. P. I. No. 39377, from H. G. Mundy, Department of Agriculture, 

 Salisbmy, southern Rhodesia, November 9, 1914 (the seed of this lot 

 was immature and none of it germinated) ; S. P. I. No. 40773, from 

 P. R. Dupont, curator of the Botanic Gardens, Seychelles Islands, 

 May 19, 1915; S. P. I. No. 40832, from I. B. Pole Evans, Department 

 of Agriculture, Pretoria, South Africa, June 7, 1915 (the seed of this 

 lot was collected at Tzaneen in northern Transvaal); and S. P. I. 

 No. 40897, from F. A. Stockdale, Director of Agriculture, Reduit, 

 Mauritius, July 6, 1915. The seeds from Mauritius produced plants 

 which resembled toura more than they did tabucki grass. 



Under cultivation in the United States tabucki grass resembles 

 Kamerun grass very closely. The stems are erect or slightly spread- 

 ing, 6 to 9 feet high, somewhat larger than a lead pencil, with 9 or 10 

 leaves which are rather narrow and harsh. The panicle is large and 

 spreading, like that of Kamerun grass, but the spikelets are a little 

 smaller, more turgid at the base, and shatter from the stem almost 

 as freely as the seed of Tunis grass. 



Another form of Andropogon sorghum verticillijiorus is the toura, 

 of Tahiti. A small sample of this was obtained by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture hi 1903 from William F. Doty, United 

 States consul, Tahiti, Society Islands, but it was identified as Johnson 

 grass {Andropogon halepensis) , and no attempt apparently was made 

 to test the seed at that time. Later, when trials of Sudan grass had 

 indicated the possible differences which might exist in these so-called 

 halepensis forms, the seed was brought out and tested. These tests 

 showed that it was not halepensis, being entirely without rootstocks. 

 The description of tabucki grass answers for toura except that torn a 

 is somewhat earlier and smaller than tabucki grass and the stems 

 ascend at a trifle wider angle. (Fig. 7.) 



