Andropogoneae


The Andropogoneae, sometimes called the sorghum tribe, are a large tribe of grasses with roughly 1,200 species in 90 genera, mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical areas. They include such important crops as maize, sugarcane, and sorghum. 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 Arundinelleae. Subdivisions include 12 subtribes, but the position of several genera within them is still unresolved. 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' into the subtribe Ischaeminae is doubtful. Affinities within the tribe are complex and still under investigation., 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 by, Peninsular India, home to 54 genera 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.''

Description

Spikelets within the inflorescence 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. :

2020 classification

Classification following Welker et al. :
Tribe Andropogoneae – 14 subtribes, 92 genera, and about 1224 species