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SEASONAL IDENTIFICATION
SHATTER CANE (Sorghum bicolor)
SUMMER
SUMMER
LATE
SUMMER
-
EARLY
FALL
SUMMER
SUMMER
FALL
Shatter cane colonies can be easily spotted in corn with its
more compact, tufted seed/flower heads. Shatter cane is
usually taller than corn.
Shatter cane roots are fibrous and not perennial like its close
relative, Johnsongrass.
Later in the season, tufted seed heads spread open from
the weight of the large round seeds, which are brown,
shiny, and covered in coarse hairs.
Shatter cane is tall and slender with broad leaf blades that
have a prominent white midrib and wrap around the smooth,
stout stem where attached.
Shatter cane is shown in the boot-to-head stage when
flower heads are developing and stem elongation occurs.
Shatter cane can mature to over 10 feet tall.
Before dying off in the fall, leaves develop purple
splotches. Shatter cane turns yellow–brown around the
same time as corn.
