Seeds are pearly white in color and late maturing, thus requiring a relatively long growing season. Koaliang sorghums, typical of those mainly grown in China, Manchuria and Japan, have slender, dry, woody stems with sparse leaves. Panicles are wiry and semicompact. Seeds are brown and bitter in taste. Hegari sorghums from Sudan are somewhat similar to Kafirs but have more nearly oval panicles, and plants that tiller profusely.
Seeds are chalky white.
In the United States most varieties have been derived from crosses involving Kafir and Milo. Other groups have also entered into some varieties, so the varieties now grown are generally not typical of any specific group. Most sorghums now being grown in this country are from hybrid seeds, made possible by the finding and isolation of male sterile strains. Use of such seed, coupled with improved agronomic practices, have resulted in recent average yields which are more than double those being obtained even as late as from 1952 to 1956. Uses of Grain Sorghum Nearly all the sorghum grain consumed in the United States is used for livestock feed.