Egyptian Wheat

Egyptian Wheat - Sorghum 21 in SSE seed bank collection (Accession # 119299). Donated to SSE by the late Dr. James Wolfe of Tennessee. According to USDA's Farmers' Bulletin 827, "Shallu, Or 'Egyptian Wheat'", by Benton E. Rothgeb; issued June 1917, "Shallu is a late-maturing variety of sorghum which has been exploited under many names, most recently as "Egyptian wheat" and "Mexican Desert wheat corn... Shallu was imported from India about 1890 under the name "Egyptian wheat" by the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station. It has since been distributed rather widely, particularly in the southern Great Plains." Grain sorghum. Plants with 5-8 flowering stems measure 7-12 feet tall. Inflorescences are well-exserted, very loose, and are 9-16 inches long. Large ovate seeds are black with red to purple glumes. Panicles have over 2000 grains. Easy to thresh. Later to flower than the other sorghum varieties grown in 2016 at Heritage Farm. Seeds sent were grown in 2015.