A SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF PENNISETUM SECT. PENNISETUM (GRAMINEAE)

Pennisetum sect. Pennisetum includes two reproductively isolated species. Pennisetum purpureum Schumach. is a tetraploid (2 n = 28) perennial species which occurs throughout the wet tropics of the world. Pennisetum americanum (L.) Leeke is a diploid (2 n = 14) annual species, native to the semi‐arid tropics of Africa and India, and contains three morphologically diverse subspecies. Subspecies americanum includes the wide array of cultivated pearl millets. Subspecies monodii from the Sahel of West Africa is identified as the wild progenitor of pearl millet. Subspecies stenostachyum is morphologically intermediate between subsp. americanum and monodii and includes the mimetic weeds often associated with the cultivation of pearl millet.