Danthonioideae is a mainly
southern hemisphere subfamily of
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 a ...
, containing the single tribe Danthonieae and one unplaced genus,
with altogether roughly 300 species.
It includes
herb
In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...
aceous to partially
wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of ligni ...
y perennial or annual (less common) grasses that grow in open grasslands, shrublands, and woodlands.
It belongs to the
PACMAD clade of grasses, but unlike some other lineages in that clade, grasses in the Danthonioideae exclusively use the
C3 photosynthetic pathway.
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 ...
is the subfamily
Chloridoideae.
There are 19 genera, 18 of which are placed in tribe Danthonieae, while one is as yet unplaced (''
incertae sedis
' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a 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, uncertain ...
'').
The relationships within the group are complicated; conflicting
phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...
evidence from
nuclear
Nuclear may refer to:
Physics
Relating to the nucleus of the atom:
*Nuclear engineering
*Nuclear physics
*Nuclear power
*Nuclear reactor
*Nuclear weapon
*Nuclear medicine
*Radiation therapy
*Nuclear warfare
Mathematics
*Nuclear space
* Nuclear ...
and
chloroplast DNA
Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) is the DNA located in chloroplasts, which are photosynthetic organelles located within the cells of some eukaryotic organisms. Chloroplasts, like other types of plastid, contain a genome separate from that in the cell n ...
suggests that
hybridisation events played an important role in the Danthonioideae.
*''incertae sedis'':
*: ''
Danthonidium''
* tribe Danthonieae:
*: ''
Austroderia'', ''
Capeochloa'', ''
Chaetobromus
''Chaetobromus'' is a genus of African plants in the grass family.
; Species
There is only one known species, ''Chaetobromus involucratus'', native to Namibia and Cape Province.Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds.) (2003). Plants of Southern Afr ...
'', ''
Chimaerochloa
''Chimaerochloa'' is a genus of New Guinean plants in the grass family.
The genus name of ''Chimaerochloa'' is named after Chimera (mythology) as Linder noted; "the grass takes an the appearance of different genera, depending on which character ...
'', ''
Chionochloa
''Chionochloa'' is a genus of tussock grass in the family Poaceae, found primarily in New Zealand with one known species in New Guinea and another on Lord Howe Island (part of Australia). Some of the species are referred to as snowgrass.
Most of ...
'', ''
Cortaderia'' (syn. ''Lamprothyrsus''), ''
Danthonia
''Danthonia'' is a genus of Eurasian, North African, and American plants in the grass family. Members of this genus are sometimes referred to as oatgrass, but that common name is not restricted to this genus. Other common names include heathgr ...
'', ''
Geochloa'', ''
Merxmuellera'', ''
Notochloe'', ''
Pentameris
''Pentameris'' is a genus of plants in the grass family, native primarily to Africa, with a few species in Yemen and on certain islands in the Indian Ocean.
A significant number of species are endemic to South Africa.Linder, Hans Peter, et ...
'' (syn. ''
Pentaschistis'', ''Poagrostis'', ''Prionanthium''), ''
Phaenanthoecium
''Phaenanthoecium'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. The only known species is ''Phaenanthoecium koestlinii'', native to Northeast Tropical Africa (Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea) and Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), ...
'', ''
'', ''
Pseudopentameris
''Pseudopentameris'' is a genus of South African plants in the grass family, found only in Western Cape Province
The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest ...
'', ''
Rytidosperma
''Rytidosperma'' is a genus of 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 grasses, bamboos and the gr ...
'' (syn. ''Austrodanthonia'', ''Monostachya'', ''Notodanthonia'', ''Pyrrhantherea''), ''
Schismus'' (syn. ''
Karroochloa''), ''
Tenaxia'', ''
Tribolium''
References
External links
*
*
Poaceae subfamilies
Grasses of Africa
Grasses of Asia
Grasses of North America
Grasses of Oceania
Grasses of South America
{{Poaceae-stub