Sorghum bicolor

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Family Poaceae

Taxonomy: Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench

Synonyms: 10 (APC 2026-07-30)

Holcus bicolor L. (nomenclatural synonym)
Holcus cernuus Ard. (taxonomic synonym)
Holcus dochna Forssk. (taxonomic synonym)
Holcus dora Mieg (taxonomic synonym)
Holcus sorghum L. (taxonomic synonym)
Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench subsp. bicolor (nomenclatural synonym)
Sorghum cernuum (Ard.) Host (taxonomic synonym)
Sorghum dochna (Forssk.) Snowden (taxonomic synonym)
Sorghum roxburghii Stapf (taxonomic synonym)
Sorghum vulgare Pers. (taxonomic synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), CoI (naturalised), ChI (naturalised), NT (naturalised), SA (naturalised), Qld (naturalised), NSW (naturalised), ACT (doubtfully naturalised), Tas (doubtfully naturalised)

Profiles: APC, Flora of Australia, ALA, iNaturalist, NSW Flora, NT eFlora, SA eFlora, Florabase, ATRP

Traits

Top source datasets: Kubiak_2009 (2), Metcalfe_2020_2 (22), NHNSW_2014_2 (1), NHNSW_2022 (5), NHNSW_2023 (9), SAH_2022 (4), SAH_2023 (6), Soper_2014 (33), WAH_2022_2 (6), WAH_2023_2 (3), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 33 traits from 94 records in 12 datasets.

Traits by category (click to expand). For categorical traits, the values are listed. For numerical traits, the mean and range are shown.

flower morphology

sex_type (categorical): andromonoecious (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]

fruit morphology

fruit_length (numerical): 7 mm (6-8 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
fruit_type (categorical): caryopsis (5) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_2]
fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (1); indehiscent (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]

leaf morphology

leaf_area (numerical): 14625 mm2 (14625-14625 mm2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_length (numerical): 650 mm (300-1000 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_width (numerical): 37.5 mm (5-70 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): flat (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c4 (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (6); herb (5); tussock (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2022; SAH_2022; Soper_2014; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
life_form (categorical): therophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
life_history (categorical): annual (5); perennial (1) [sources: NHNSW_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (6) [sources: NHNSW_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): erect (1) [sources: SAH_2022]
root_structure (categorical): arbuscular_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
pollination_syndrome (categorical): wind (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
dispersal_syndrome (categorical): anemochory (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
flowering_time (categorical): yynnnnnnnnny (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (1) [sources: SAH_2023]

nutrient and stable isotope

leaf_N_per_dry_mass (numerical): 8.89 mg/g (4.68-12.19 mg/g) [sources: Soper_2014]
leaf_delta13C (numerical): -12.38 {delta}[ppth] (-12.86--11.97 {delta}[ppth]) [sources: Soper_2014]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 14.3 mg (14.3-14.3 mg) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 2.91 m (0.8-6 m) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_2]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
Soper_2014	5	33	F. M. Soper, A. E. Richards, I. Siddique, M. P. M. Aidar, G. D. Cook, L. B. Hutley, N. Robinson, and S. Schmidt. “Natural abundance (delta15N) indicates shifts in nitrogen relations of woody taxa along a savanna-woodland continental rainfall gradient”. Oecologia 178.1 (2014), pp. 297-308. doi: 10.1007/s00442-014-3176-3.
Metcalfe_2020_2	19	22	D. Metcalfe. “Unpublished data: Traits of Poaceae spp, CSIRO”. 2020.
NHNSW_2023	5	9	N. H. of New South Wales. The Plant Information Network System of The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Version 2.0.. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
SAH_2023	5	6	S. H. of South Australia. eFlora of SA, Electronic Flora of South Australia. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/.
WAH_2022_2	3	6	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
NHNSW_2022	3	5	N. H. of New South Wales. The Plant Information Network System of The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Version 2.0.. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
SAH_2022	4	4	S. H. of South Australia. eFlora of SA, Electronic Flora of South Australia. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/.
WAH_2023_2	2	3	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Kubiak_2009	2	2	P. J. Kubiak. “Fire responses of bushland plants after the January 1994 wildfires in northern Sydney”. Cunninghamia 11.1 (2009), pp. 131-165.
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
NHNSW_2014_2	1	1	Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.