Complex evolutionary history of two ecologically significant grass genera,ThemedaandHeteropogon(Poaceae: Panicoideae: Andropogoneae)

Themeda and Heteropogon are closely related grass genera frequently dominant in tropical C4 grasslands. Relationships between them are poorly resolved, impeding ecological study, especially of T. triandra with a broad distribution from Africa to East Asia, and H. contortus with a pantropical distribution. Our analyses of plastome and nuclear genomes with comprehensive sampling of Themeda and Heteropogon demonstrate that neither genus is...