Publ. Field. Columb. Mus., Bot . Ser. 3: (1903).- Type:
Sorghum x sudanense (Piper) Stapf, FTA 9: 113 (1917).
Regional litterature: FTEA: 726 (1982); Fl. Ethiopia & Eritrea 7: 299, fig (1995); Pl. Sudan & S Sudan: 147 (2015).
Description:
* Annual of 1.5-2 m high. Culms erect, 3-6 mm diameter. Leaves cauline, 15-20 cm long and 8-12 mm wide; ligule a ciliolate membrane.
* Inflorescence an open, ovate or pyramidal panicle of 15-30 cm long and 8-15 cm wide; branches flexuous, scaberulous, ascending or spreading, 5-15 cm long. Racemes 1.5-2.5 cm long with 2-5 pairs of spikelets; rhachis tough, ciliate on the margins with hairs of 0.5-0.7 mm long; internodes filiform, 2.5-4 mm long. Pedicels filiform, flattened, 2-3.5 mm long.
* Spikelets elliptic, 6-7.5 mm long and 2-3 mm wide, persistant; callus pilose. Lower glume elliptic, coriaceous, much thinner above, yellow to light brown, keeled towards the tip, lateral veins with cross-veins; upper glume similar, more narrow. Lower lemma barren, elliptic, 5-6.5 mm long, hyaline; upper lemma ovate, 3.5-4.5 mm long, hyaline, 1-veined, margins ciliate, tip bifid with a geniculate awn of 10-16 mm long from the sinus; colums twisted, glabrous.
Distribution West Africa: Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan.
Distribution world-wide: Egypt; introduced in Europe, Asia, Australia, Americas.