Parahyparrhenia Explained

Parahyparrhenia is a genus of Afro-Asian plants in the grass family.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} Globally, the genus comprises seven species. Two species are known to occur in India, where they are narrow endemic. The species show disjunct distribution in Africa and Asia. Parahyparrhenia bellariensis (Hack.) Clayton an extremely rare grass which was presumed extinct was rediscovered after the span of 184 years from its type locality in the state of Andhra Pradesh, South India by Mr. Shahid Nawaz, an agrostologist at the Blatter Herbarium . Following its rediscovery, it has been classified as Critically Endangered (CR) by following the guidelines of IUCN Criteria and Category.

Recently, the genus was revised by Shahid Nawaz, an Indian agrostologist, who also reviewed African and Thai species.

Species^{[5] [6]}

• Parahyparrhenia annua (Hack.) Clayton - Sahara + Sahel regions of Africa
• Parahyparrhenia bellariensis (Hack.) Clayton - Andhra Pradesh^{[7] [8]}
• Parahyparrhenia khannae A. P. Tiwari & Chorghe - Gujarat & Madhya Pradesh, India
• Parahyparrhenia laegaardii Veldkamp - Thailand
• Parahyparrhenia perennis Clayton - Burkina Faso, Guinea, Liberia, Senegal
• Parahyparrhenia siamensis Clayton - Thailand, Laos
• Parahyparrhenia tridentata Clayton - Thailand

Notes and References

1. Camus, Aimée Antoinette. 1950. Bulletin du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, sér. 2 22: 404.
2. http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40001208 Tropicos, Parahyparrhenia A.Camus
3. http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db/www/gen00455.htm Grassbase - The World Online Grass Flora
4. Clayton, William Derek 1972. Studies in the Gramineae: XXIX. Kew Bull. 27(3): 447–450.
5. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=431040 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
6. http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=Parahyparrhenia The Plant List search for Parahyparrhenia
7. Landge . Shahid Nawaz . 20 April 2021 . Rediscovery of Parahyparrhenia bellariensis (Poaceae: Andropogoneae): a presumed extinct grass from Andhra Pradesh, India . Phytotaxa . 497 . 2 . 147–156 . 10.11646/phytotaxa.497.2.7 . Magnolia Press.
8. Landge, Shahid Nawaz (29 March 2022). "A taxonomic revision of the genus Parahyparrhenia (Poaceae: Andropogoneae) in India and review of African and Thai species". Phytotaxa. 541 (3): 247–260 – via Magnolia Press.https://www.biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.541.3.4https://www.biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.541.3.4