By Sarah Fiorello

Grass Family  (Poaceae)

First domesticated in Sudan more than 5,000 years ago, sorghum is the world’s fifth most important cereal crop. It first arrived in the Americas on slave ships and was grown by enslaved Africans around their living quarters and was used to make cakes, breads, and porridge.

Medicinal use: Sorghum syrup was used to sweeten the flavor of bitter tasting herbal medicines.

Plants in this display:
Sorghum bicolor ‘Sugar Drip’
Sorghum bicolor ‘Coral Sorghum’

Listen to learn more: Access a short narrative here.

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