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 ... ... ... 1. S. halepense. 



Nodes bearded. Fruiting spikelets lanceolate, 2\ to 4 lines long, 



villous. Awn usually long. Ovary glabrous 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 Veterinary-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 in the 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. Ralepensis, Aleppo (adjectival form) . 



Synonym. — Andropogon halepensis, Sibth. 



Vernacular names. — " Evergreen 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 is a much-named 

 grass. As regards 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 



