spear grass (early)

Scientific Name
Sorghum intrans
Category
Plants

There are about 12 species of sorghum in the Top End, the most common being Sorghum intrans. Spear grass is a calendar plant that indicates many other features and processes of the seasonal cycle. Here's just one example:
Ngaleng ngurrurdu dabuno ka-kurrme bu an-bedje ka-yawbardnjamedme ... mirrhlurrululhme.
They [emus] can lay eggs when the spear grass is standing and whatsit... the sharp part of the seeds have appeared.

Some names for spear grass indicate their classification into moieties based on seasonal features. The sorghum grass classified as duwa patrimoiety is called mardadubba. The yirridjdja grass is called man-bedje (or an-bedje in Gundjeihmi and Kundedjnjenghmi).
Anbedje werrk kabardbakme, mardadubba yerre.
The yirridjdja moiety sorghum grass falls down first and then the duwa moiety variety falls later.

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Kunwinjku term
man-bedje
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Kundjeyhmi term
an-bedje
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Kuninjku term
man-bedje
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Kune/Mayali term
man-bedje
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Kundedjnjenghmi term
an-bedje
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Do you have photographs of plants and animals from Kakadu and western Arnhem Land?

You can contribute them to this site. Search for a species in the search engine below and follow the instructions to contribute your images.

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