Sorghum nitidum(Vahl) Pers.

WFO wfo-0000900469 Accepted WFO 2026-06 6 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–f · 2 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 2 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Sorghum nitidum, photographed by Cheng-Tao Lin
fig. a Cheng-Tao Lin, CC BY 4.0 / 2019-05-10 / obs. 39034025
Sorghum nitidum, photographed by Cheng-Tao Lin
fig. b Cheng-Tao Lin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 20934129
Sorghum nitidum, photographed by Cheng-Tao Lin
fig. c Cheng-Tao Lin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 39033985
Sorghum nitidum, photographed by Cheng-Tao Lin
fig. d Cheng-Tao Lin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 20934127
Sorghum nitidum, photographed by Cheng-Tao Lin
fig. e Cheng-Tao Lin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 20934130
Sorghum nitidum, photographed by Cheng-Tao Lin
fig. f Cheng-Tao Lin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 20934134

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 29 botanical countries

Regions where Sorghum nitidum is native: China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Japan, Korea, Nansei-shoto, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Borneo, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Myanmar, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Pakistan, Philippines, South China Sea, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Caroline Is., Marianas China North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanJapanTaiwanBangladeshBorneoEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MyanmarNew GuineaPakistanPhilippinesSri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamWest Himalaya KoreaNansei-shotoNicobar Is.South China SeaCaroline Is.Marianas
Native distribution of Sorghum nitidum, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Bangladesh BAN ASIA-TROPICAL
Borneo BOR
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Myanmar MYA
New Guinea NWG
Nicobar Is. NCB
Pakistan PAK
Philippines PHI
South China Sea SCS
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
China North-Central CHN ASIA-TEMPERATE
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Japan JAP
Korea KOR
Nansei-shoto NNS
Taiwan TAI
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC
Marianas MRN

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 39 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Anatherum nitidum (Vahl) Spreng.
  • Andropogon amboinicus var. nitidus (Vahl) Backer
  • Andropogon consimilis Steud.
  • Andropogon dichroanthus Steud.
  • Andropogon fulvus (R.Br.) Spreng.
  • Andropogon fuscus J.Presl
  • Andropogon nigrum Buch.-Ham. ex Wall.
  • Andropogon nitens Schreb. ex Steud.
  • Andropogon nitidus (Vahl) Kunth
  • Andropogon pedicellatus Steud.
  • Andropogon serratus Thunb.
  • Andropogon serratus subvar. major Hack.
  • Andropogon serratus subvar. parviflorus Hack.
  • Andropogon serratus var. nitidus (Vahl) Hack.
  • Andropogon tropicus Spreng.
  • Chrysopogon fuscus (J.Presl) Trin. ex Steud.
  • Holcus fauriei Honda
  • Holcus fulvus R.Br.
  • Holcus fulvus var. nitidus (Vahl) Honda
  • Holcus fulvus var. pilifer Honda
  • Holcus fulvus var. piliferus Honda
  • Holcus nitidus Vahl
  • Sorghum dichroanthum (Steud.) Ohwi
  • Sorghum fauriei (Honda) Honda

and 15 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.