The Andropogoneae, sometimes called the sorghum tribe, are a large tribe of grasses (family

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

) with roughly 1,200 species in 90 genera, mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical areas. They include such important crops as

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

(corn),

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

, and

sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

. All species in this tribe use C₄ carbon fixation, which makes them competitive under warm, high-light conditions. Andropogoneae is classified in supertribe Andropogonodae, together with its

sister group In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

Arundinelleae. Subdivisions include 12 subtribes, but the position of several genera within them is still unresolved (''

incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

''). Hybridisation was probably important in the evolution of the Andropogoneae, and the tribe's systematics are still not completely resolved. 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.Mr. Shahid Nawaz
a grass specialist at the Blatter Herbarium, is working on the phylogenomics of the tribe from India. According to preliminary phytogeographic research on the tribe b
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 ''Cymbopogon'', also known as lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, oily heads, Cochin grass, Malabar grass, citronella grass or fever grass, is a genus of Asian, African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the Poaceae, grass famil ...

'', '' Dichanthium'', '' Dimeria'', '' Heteropogon,'' '' Ischaemum, Ophiorus, Sehima,'' and '' Themeda.''

Description

Spikelets within the

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

(flower cluster) are generally arranged on spicate racemes in pairs. A fertile, unstalked spikelet is subtended by a sterile, stalked spikelet. In species where awns are present they are found on the fertile, unstalked spikelet as an extension of the lemma.

Subtribes and genera

2017 classification

Classification following Soreng et al. (2017):

2020 classification

Classification following Welker et al. (2020) (one asterisk * marks genera not sampled in their analyses that were tentatively placed based on previously published phylogenetic analyses; two asterisks ** marks genera placed solely on morphology): Tribe Andropogoneae – 14 subtribes, 92 genera, and about 1224 species *Subtribe Arthraxoninae – 1 genus and about 27 species **'' Arthraxon'' – 27 species *Subtribe Tripsacinae – 2 genera and about 23 species **'' Tripsacum'' – 16 species **'' Zea'' – 7 species *Subtribe Chionachninae – 3 genera and about 12 species **'' Chionachne'' – 9 species **'' Polytoca'' – 2 species **'' Trilobachne'' – 1 species ** *Subtribe Rhytachninae – 5 genera and about 26 species **'' Loxodera'' – 5 species **'' Oxyrhachis'' – 1 species **'' Rhytachne'' – 12 species **'' Urelytrum'' – 7 species **'' Vossia'' – 1 species *Subtribe Chrysopogoninae – 1 genus and about 49 species **'' Chrysopogon'' – 49 species *Subtribe Rottboelliinae = Coicinae – 3 genera and about 13 species **'' Chasmopodium'' – 3 species * **'' Coix'' – 4 species **'' Rottboellia'' – 6 species *Subtribe Ratzeburgiinae – 11 genera and about 87 species **'' Eremochloa'' – 12 species **'' Glyphochloa'' – 9 species **'' Hackelochloa'' – 2 species **'' Hemarthria'' – 14 species **'' Heteropholis'' – 6 species * **'' Manisuris'' – 1 species * **'' Mnesithea'' – 26 species **'' Ophiuros'' – 4 species * **'' Ratzeburgia'' – 1 species ** **'' Thaumastochloa'' – 8 species * **'' Thyrsia'' – 4 species *Subtribe Ischaeminae = Dimeriinae – 4 genera and about 152 species **'' Andropterum'' – 1 species **'' Dimeria'' – 61 species **'' Eulaliopsis'' – 2 species **'' Ischaemum'' – 88 species *Subtribe Germainiinae – 5 genera and about 44 species **'' Apocopis'' – 16 species * **'' Germainia'' – 10 species **'' Imperata'' – 13 species **'' Lophopogon'' – 2 species ** **'' Pogonatherum'' – 3 species *Subtribe Sorghinae – 4 genera and about 37 species **'' Cleistachne'' – 1 species **'' Lasiorhachis'' – 3 species **'' Sarga'' – 9 species **''

Sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

'' – 24 species *Subtribe Saccharinae – 3 genera and about 64 species **'' Miscanthus'' – 30 species **'' Pseudosorghum'' – 2 species **'' Saccharum'' – 32 species *Subtribe Apludinae – 7 genera and about 68 species **'' Apluda'' – 1 species **'' Asthenochloa'' – 1 species ** **'' Eulalia'' – 34 species **'' Homozeugos'' – 6 species **'' Polytrias'' – 1 species **'' Sorghastrum'' – 21 species **'' Trachypogon'' – 4 species *Subtribe Anthistiriinae – 9 genera and about 204 species **'' Bothriochloa'' – 37 species **'' Capillipedium'' – 18 species **''

'' – 59 species **'' Dichanthium'' – 22 species **'' Eremopogon'' – 4 species * **'' Euclasta'' – 2 species **'' Heteropogon'' – 6 species **'' Iseilema'' – 24 species **'' Themeda'' – 32 species *Subtribe Andropogoninae – 11 genera and about 292 species **'' Anadelphia'' – 14 species **'' Andropogon'' – 125 species **'' Bhidea'' – 3 species ** **'' Diectomis'' – 1 species **'' Diheteropogon'' – 4 species **'' Elymandra'' – 6 species **'' Exotheca'' – 1 species **'' Hyparrhenia'' – 58 species **'' Hyperthelia'' – 7 species **'' Monocymbium'' – 3 species **'' Schizachyrium'' – 70 species *Incertae sedis – 23 genera and about 126 species **'' Agenium'' – 4 species * **'' Elionurus'' – 17 species **''

Eriochrysis ''Eriochrysis'' is a genus of African and Neotropical plants in the Poaceae, grass family. ; Species * ''Eriochrysis brachypogon'' (Stapf) Stapf - tropical + southern Africa - from Senegal to Eswatini * ''Eriochrysis cayennensis'' P.Beauv. - tro ...

'' – 11 species **'' Jardinea'' – 3 species **'' Kerriochloa'' – 1 species **'' Lasiurus'' – 1 species **'' Leptatherum'' – 3 species * **'' Microstegium'' – 27 species **'' Parahyparrhenia'' – 6 species **'' Phacelurus'' – 6 species * **'' Pseudopogonatherum'' – 5 species * **'' Sehima'' – 5 species **'' Spodiopogon'' – 18 species * **'' Thelepogon'' – 2 species **'' Tripidium'' – 6 species **'' Clausospicula'' – 1 species ** **'' Lakshmia'' – 1 species ** **'' Pogonachne'' – 1 species ** **'' Pseudanthistiria'' – 4 species ** **'' Pseudodichanthium'' – 1 species ** **'' Spathia'' – 1 species ** **'' Triplopogon'' – 1 species ** **'' Veldkampia'' – 1 species **

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3780208 Panicoideae Poaceae tribes Taxa named by Barthélemy Charles Joseph Dumortier