Andropogoneae

Andropogoneae
Andropogon scoparius
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Clade: PACMAD clade
Subfamily: Panicoideae
Supertribe: Andropogonodae
Tribe: Andropogoneae
Dumort. (1824)
Subtribes

12 subtribes, see text

Synonyms[1]
  • Sacchareae Dumort. (1824)
  • Coiceae Nakai (1943)
  • Euchlaeneae Nakai (1943)
  • Imperateae Godr. & Gren. (1855)
  • Maydeae Dumort. (1824, nom. illeg.)
  • Ophiureae Dumort. (1824)
  • Rottboellieae Kunth (1829)
  • Sacchareae Rchb. ex Horan. (1847, as Saccharinae)
  • Tripsaceae C.E. Hubb. ex Nakai (1943)
  • Zeeae Rchb. (1828, unranked)
  • Zeeae Nakai (1943)

The Andropogoneae, sometimes called the sorghum tribe, are a large tribe of grasses (family Poaceae) with roughly 1,200 species in 90 genera, mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical areas. They include such important crops as maize (corn), sugarcane, and sorghum.[2] All species in this tribe use C4 carbon fixation, which makes them competitive under warm, high-light conditions.[3]

Andropogoneae is classified in supertribe Andropogonodae, together with its sister group Arundinelleae. Subdivisions include 12 subtribes, but the position of several genera within them is still unresolved (incertae sedis). Hybridisation was probably important in the evolution of the Andropogoneae, and the tribe's systematics are still not completely resolved.[3] From the morphological point of view, the merging of the former subtribe 'Dimeriinae' (having solitary spikelets borne in 'robust' raceme rachis ) into the subtribe Ischaeminae (having paired spikelets borne in 'fragile' raceme rachis) is doubtful. Affinities within the tribe are complex and still under investigation.[4] Mr. Shahid Nawaz, a grass specialist at the Blatter Herbarium, is working on the phylogenomics of the tribe from India.[citation needed]

According to preliminary phytogeographic research on the tribe by MS Kiran Raj, Peninsular India, home to 54 genera (incl. 9 endemic genera, viz., Bhidea, Lophopogon, Glyphochloa, Pogonachne, Trilobachne, Pseudodichanthium, Triplopogon, Nanooravia, and Manisuris) and roughly 500 species, is thought to be the primary or secondary centre of diversity for Andropogonoid grasses. About 40% of the representative taxa are exclusively endemic to peninsular India, with the highest species diversity and endemicity found in genera like Arthraxon, Chrysopogon, Cymbopogon, Dichanthium, Dimeria, Heteropogon, Ischaemum, Ophiorus, Sehima, and Themeda.[5][4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference SorengPeterson2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Also called "kaoliang": "Shensi", in The Columbia-Viking Encyclopedia (1953), New York: Viking. Another spelling is "gaoliang."
  3. ^ a b Soreng, Robert J.; Peterson, Paul M.; Romschenko, Konstantin; Davidse, Gerrit; Zuloaga, Fernando O.; Judziewicz, Emmet J.; Filgueiras, Tarciso S.; Davis, Jerrold I.; Morrone, Osvaldo (2015). "A worldwide phylogenetic classification of the Poaceae (Gramineae)". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 53 (2): 117–137. doi:10.1111/jse.12150. hdl:11336/25248. ISSN 1674-4918. Open access icon
  4. ^ a b Kiranraj, MS (2008). "Taxonomic revision of the subtribe Dimeriinae Hack of Andropogoneae Panicoideae Poaceae in Peninsular India". Shodhganga : a reservoir of Indian theses @ INFLIBNET.
  5. ^ Raj, Kiran, MS, M. Sivadasan and N. Ravi (2003). Grass Diversity of Kerala Endemism and its Phytogeographical Significance. In MK Jananrdhanan & D. Narasimhan (Eds.) Plant diversity, Human welfare and conservation. Goa: Goa University. pp. 8–30.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)