''Sorghum macrospermum'', the Katherine sorghum, is a species of flowering plant in the family

Poaceae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivate ...

, endemic only to limestone outcrops in the

Katherine River Katherine River is located in the Northern Territory, Australia. Its headwaters are in Nitmiluk National Park, it flows through the town of Katherine, Northern Territory, Katherine, and is a major tributary of the Daly River (Northern Territory), ...

area of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

of Australia. A

diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, ...

, as a

crop wild relative A crop wild relative (CWR) is a wild plant closely related to a domesticated plant. It may be a wild ancestor of the domesticated (cultivated) plant or another closely related taxon. Overview The wild relatives of crop plants constitute an i ...

of ''

Sorghum bicolor ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the grass genus ''Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain is used as food by humans, ...

'' it is being studied for its resistance to various pest species.

References

macrospermum Endemic flora of Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Plants described in 1950 {{Panicoideae-stub