Sorghum

genus of plants

OverviewAI-generated

Sorghum is a genus of plants in the family Poaceae. It belongs to the kingdom Plantae, phylum Tracheophyta, class Liliopsida, and order Poales. The taxon is classified under the parent taxon Andropogoninae. Its scientific name is Sorghum Moench. Common names for the genus include sorghum, Durra, Mbayeeri, and Durrat.

The genus has uses as a source of drink and firewood. It is native to regions including Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Borneo, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, and the Canary Islands. Records of the organism are held by institutions such as CM, ECOSUR, INECOL, CICY, and UACH in countries including the United States, Mexico, Ethiopia, and Australia.

The subject is described in sources such as the Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition, and Granat Encyclopedic Dictionary. It appears in 14 other encyclopedia articles. Data regarding the genus includes 289,683 occurrence records and 10,066 PubMed entries.

Synthesized by Vinony from 40 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, PubMed, iNaturalist, Gbif Occ, Plants of the World, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Johnson grass

Sorghum

GENUS

KingdomPlantae
PhylumTracheophyta
ClassLiliopsida
OrderPoales
FamilyPoaceae

Native toAfghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Borneo, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canary Is.

Observations33,460

Observations recorded289,683

Common Name: sorghum

via GBIF · Kew POWO

Museum specimens

Specimen records: 1,135
With media: 803
Family: Poaceae
Collections: CM, ECOSUR, INECOL, CICY, UACH, MEL
Recorded in: United States, Mexico, Ethiopia, Australia

iDigBio →

Research

10,066 papers

Sorghum: A Multipurpose Crop.ReviewJournal of agricultural and food chemistry · 2023Zheng H, Dang Y, Sui NDOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.3c04942
Sorghum in foods: Functionality and potential in innovative products.ReviewCritical reviews in food science and nutrition · 2023Khoddami A, Messina V, Vadabalija Venkata K et al.DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2021.1960793
Sorghum genetic, genomic, and breeding resources.ReviewPlanta · 2021Xin Z, Wang M, Cuevas HE et al.DOI: 10.1007/s00425-021-03742-w
Sweet sorghum juice clarification and concentration: a review.ReviewCritical reviews in food science and nutrition · 2024Chibrikov V, Vakuliuk P, Sobczuk HDOI: 10.1080/10408398.2023.2245033
Sorghum and health: An overview of potential protective health effects.ReviewJournal of food science · 2024Stefoska-Needham ADOI: 10.1111/1750-3841.16978
Sorghum under saline conditions: responses, tolerance mechanisms, and management strategies.ReviewPlanta · 2021Mansour MMF, Emam MM, Salama KHA et al.DOI: 10.1007/s00425-021-03671-8
Sorghum phytonutrients and their health benefits: A systematic review from cell to clinical trials.Journal of food science · 2024de Oliveira LL, de Alencar Figueiredo LFDOI: 10.1111/1750-3841.17011
Sorghum starch: Composition, structure, functionality, and strategies for its improvement.ReviewComprehensive reviews in food science and food safety · 2025Zahid MK, Ahmad D, Amin R et al.DOI: 10.1111/1541-4337.70101

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Instance of: taxon
Parent taxon: Andropogoninae
Image: Sorghum plants farm.jpg
Has use: firewood

Show 8 more facts

Commons category: Sorghum
taxon name: Sorghum
taxon rank: genus
topic's main category: Category:Sorghum
GRIN URL: npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomygenus.aspx?id=11304
described by source: Granat Encyclopedic Dictionary
taxon common name: Sorgu
on focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:List of articles all languages should have

Sources (6)

via Wikidata · CC0

~3 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Sorghum (/ˈsɔːrɡəm/) or broomcorn is a genus of about 28 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Sorghum bicolor is grown as a cereal for human consumption and as animal fodder.

Taxonomy

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Sorghum” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.