Johnson Grass
Sorghum halepense
Found in fields, pastures, roadsides, waste places, cultivated fields. A serious weed, difficult to eradicate. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Height
- About 3.5 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
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Do not plant. Listed invasive in West Virginia.
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- April to December
- Fruiting season
- Summer to fall
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 3 West Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
15CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Sorghum
- Achyra rantalisGarden Webworm Moth
- Acronicta insularisHenry's Marsh Moth, Cattail Caterpillar
- Agrotis ipsilonIpsilon Dart, Black Cutworm, Greasy Cutworm
- Amblyscirtes hegonPepper and Salt Skipper
- Dargida diffusaWheat Head Armywotm Moth
- Dicymolomia julianalisJulia's Dicymolomia
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Mocis latipesSmall Mocis, Striped Grass Looper
- Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
- Nastra lherminierSwarthy Skipper
Show all 15
- Nola cereellaSorghum Cutworm, Sorghum Webworm Moth, Sorgham Webworm Moth
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Pleuroprucha insulsariaCommon Tan Wave
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Astala confederata
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
23BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Sorghum
- Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
- Anser caerulescensSnow Goose
- Antigone canadensisSandhill Crane
- Branta canadensisCanada Goose
- Callipepla gambeliiGambel's Quail
- Cardinalis cardinalisNorthern Cardinal
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
- Columba liviaRock Pigeon
- Columbina passerinaCommon Ground Dove
- Corvus brachyrhynchosAmerican Crow
Show all 23
- Corvus cryptoleucusChihuahuan Raven
- Cyrtonyx montezumaeMontezuma Quail
- Dendrocygna autumnalisBlack-bellied Whistling-Duck
- Euphagus cyanocephalusBrewer's Blackbird
- Molothrus aterBrown-headed Cowbird
- Passer domesticusHouse Sparrow
- Quiscalus majorBoat-tailed Grackle
- Quiscalus mexicanusGreat-tailed Grackle
- Quiscalus quisculaCommon Grackle
- Tympanuchus pallidicinctusLesser Prairie-Chicken
- Zenaida asiaticaWhite-winged Dove
- Zenaida macrouraMourning Dove
- Zonotrichia leucophrysWhite-crowned Sparrow
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Poaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 6a–10b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to alkaline
- Flower color
- Brown/copper
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth habit
- Spreads by rhizomes
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- Summer
- Fruit ends
- Fall
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “April to December” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Brown/copper” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Fall” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Spreads by rhizomes” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Rapid” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 6a–10b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “About 3.5 feet” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic to alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- West Virginia DNR invasive plant list
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- West Virginia occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications