Panicoideae is the second-largest

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classifica ...

of the

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

with over 3,500 species, mainly distributed in warm temperate and tropical regions. It comprises some important agricultural crops, including

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American English, North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous ...

(or corn),

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many other ...

, and switchgrass. C₄ photosynthesis evolved independently a number of times in the subfamily, which presumably had a C₃ ancestor.

Description

The ligule has a fringe of hairs. The inflorescence is branched around a common axis. The spikelets are all alike with two bisexual florets that are joined below the glumes (the outer floral envelopes). The lower glume is shorter than the spikelet.

Systematics and taxonomy

Within the PACMAD clade of grasses, the Panicoideae are sister to a clade made of the four subfamilies

Arundinoideae The Arundinoideae are a subfamily of the true grass family Poaceae with around 40 species, including giant reed and common reed. Unlike many other members of the PACMAD clade of grasses, the Arundinoideae all use C3 photosynthesis. Their sister ...

Chloridoideae Chloridoideae is one of the largest subfamilies of grasses, with roughly 150 genera and 1,600 species, mainly found in arid tropical or subtropical grasslands. Within the PACMAD clade, their sister group are the Danthonioideae. The subfamily ...

, Danthonioideae, and Micrairoideae. A modern phylogenetic classification divides the Panicoideae in twelve

tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

corresponding to

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gr ...

clades; two genera, '' Chandrasekharania'' and '' Jansenella'', are unplaced ('' incertae sedis'') but probably belong to tribe Tristachyideae. The three largest tribes, Paniceae, Paspaleae, and Andropogoneae, together with the small

Arundinelleae Arundinelleae is a tribe of grasses with roughly 90 species in three genera, mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical areas. The tribe's sister group are the Andropogoneae The Andropogoneae, sometimes called the sorghum tribe, are a larg ...

, form the core of the subfamily. The Gynerieae were formerly placed in Arundinoideae, and the basal lineage, the "centothecoid clade" with seven tribes, was formerly seen as separate subfamily, Centothecoideae. Phylogeny based on chloroplast DNA analyses, showing relationships of tribes within the subfamily (dashed lines indicate uncertain positions; C₄ clades flagged):

Gallery

File:Chasmanthium_latifolium_Boyle_Park.jpg, alt=Grass with large, flat spikelets, Woodoats (''

Chasmanthium latifolium ''Chasmanthium latifolium'', known as northern wood-oats, inland sea oats, northern sea oats, and river oats is a species of grass native to the central and eastern United States, Manitoba, and northeastern Mexico; it grows as far north as Pennsy ...

'', Chasmanthieae) File:Flickr_-_João_de_Deus_Medeiros_-_Loudetiopsis_chrysothrix.jpg, alt=Dry grass spikelets, Spikelets of ''

Loudetiopsis chrysothrix ''Loudetiopsis'' is a genus of African and South American plants in the grass family Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal ...

'' ( Tristachyideae) File:Gynerium_sagittatum_3.jpg, alt=Tall grass plants resembling cane, ''

Gynerium sagittatum ''Gynerium'' is a monotypic genus of Neotropical plants in the grass family, native to Mexico and Colombia, Central America, South America, and the West Indies. It is classified in its own tribe Gynerieae. The sole species in the genus is ''G ...

'' File:Pennisetum villosum 002.jpg, alt=A feathery inflorescence of dense spikelets, Feathertop grass ('' Pennisetum villosum'', Paniceae) File:Corncobs.jpg, alt=Maize cobs in different colours, Cultivated maize or corn (''

Zea mays Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

'', Andropogoneae)

References

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1071663 Poaceae subfamilies