Mnesithea, or jointtail grass, is a genus of Asian, Australian, and Pacific Island plants in the grass family.[2][3][4][5][6] The number of species placed in the genus varied considerably as of November 2024 depending in large part on how the genus Coelorachis was treated. Sources that synonymized Coelorachis with Mnesithea accepted about 26 species. Those that synonymized Coelorachis with Rottboellia accepted about seven.

Jointtail grass
Mnesithea formosa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Panicoideae
Supertribe: Andropogonodae
Tribe: Andropogoneae
Subtribe: Rottboelliinae
Genus: Mnesithea
Kunth
Type species
Mnesithea laevis
(Retz.) Kunth
Synonyms[1]

(For the broad circumscription)

  • Coelorachis Brongn.
  • Hackelochloa Kuntze
  • Apogonia (Nutt.) E. Fourn.
  • Cycloteria Stapf
  • Diperium Desv.
  • Peltophorus Desv.
  • Rytilix Raf. ex Hitchc.
  • Thyridostachyum Nees

Taxonomy

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The genus Mnesithea was erected by Carl Sigismund Kunth in 1829.[7] The circumscription of the genus varied as of November 2024. A 2015 classification of Poaceae treated Coelorachis as a synonym of Mnesithea.[8] This treatment was supported by Welker et al. in 2020, based on a molecular phylogenetic study,[9] and was used by the Germplasm Resources Information Network[10] and the Integrated Taxonomic Information System.[1] In this circumscription, the genus has about 26 species including those formerly placed in Coelorachis.[8] Alternatively, Plants of the World Online, following Veldkamp et al. in 2013,[11] treated Coelorachis as a synonym of Rottboellia,[12] with only seven species in the genus Mnesithea.[7]

Species

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Seven species were accepted in the narrow circumscription as of November 2024:[7]

Further species accepted when Coelorachis is synonymized with Mnesithea include the following, which other sources place in Rottboellia:[13][10][1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Mnesithea Kunth". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  2. ^ Kunth, Karl Sigismund . 1829. Révision des Graminées 1: 153-154 in Latin
  3. ^ Tropicos, Mnesithea Kunth
  4. ^ Grassbase - The World Online Grass Flora
  5. ^ Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 642 毛俭草属 mao jian cao shu Mnesithea Kunth, Révis. Gramin. 1: 153. 1829.
  6. ^ Atlas of Living Australia, Mnesithea Kunth, Jointtail Grass
  7. ^ a b c "Mnesithea Kunth". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  8. ^ a b Soreng, Robert J.; Peterson, Paul M.; Romschenko, Konstantin; Davidse, Gerrit; Zuloaga, Fernando O.; Judziewicz, Emmet J.; Filgueiras, Tarciso S.; Davis, Jerrold I.; Morrone, Osvaldo (2015). "A worldwide phylogenetic classification of the Poaceae (Gramineae)". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 53 (2): 117–137. doi:10.1111/jse.12150. hdl:11336/25248. ISSN 1674-4918. S2CID 84052108. Table 1.
  9. ^ Welker, Cassiano A. D.; McKain, Michael R.; Estep, Matt C.; Pasquet, Rémy S.; Chipabika, Gilson; Pallangyo, Beatrice & Kellogg, Elizabeth A. (2020), "Phylogenomics enables biogeographic analysis and a new subtribal classification of Andropogoneae (Poaceae—Panicoideae)", Journal of Systematics and Evolution, 58 (6): 1003–1030, doi:10.1111/jse.12691
  10. ^ a b "Gen. Coelorachis Brongn". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  11. ^ Veldkamp, J.F.; Heidweiller, J.; de Koning, R.; Kraaijeveld, A.R.; Sosef, M.S.M. & Strucker, R.C.W. (2013). "A revision of Mnesithea (Gramineae - Rottboelliinae) in Malesia and Thailand". Blumea. 58: 277–292. doi:10.3767/000651913X678257.
  12. ^ "Coelorachis Brongn." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  13. ^ "Search for 'Coelorachis'". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2024-03-17.