Literature review and numerical taxonomy of Eragrostis tef (T'ef)

Costanza, S.H. and Harlan, J.R. and Wet, J.M.J.de (1979) Literature review and numerical taxonomy of Eragrostis tef (T'ef). Economic Botany, 33 (4). pp. 413-424.

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Abstract

Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter is a native Ethiopian cereal. It was recently classified into 35 cultivars which are united into 6 complexes based on inflorescence morphology, grain color, time to maturity and uses. These complexes do not show ecogeographic unity, and they cross ethnological boundaries. Thirty-nine colletions of t'ef were studied in biosystematic detail, and compared with E. aethiopica Chiov. and E. pilosa (L.) Beauv., two putative ancestors of the cereal. The latter species is morphologically variable but closely allied to E. tef. Three morphologically distinct complexes are recognized within the cereal. The ethnological significance of these complexes of t'ef is not clear.ADDITIONAL ABSTRACT:Thirty-six accessions of E. tef, one each of the two putative ancestors E. pilosa and E. aethiopica and one designated E. pilosa-like, were compared using 34 vegetative and spikelet characters. The E. aethiopica and E. pilosa-like accessions, which a similarity phenogram showed to be very different from E. tef and E. pilosa, were not included in further analyses. Species could best be separated using spikelet characters. Three distinct groups emerged from analysis of the remaining accessions

Item Type:	Article
Author Affiliation:	Crop Evolution Laboratory, Department of Agronomy and Botany, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA
Subjects:	Crop Improvement > Genetics/Genomics Crop Improvement > Plant Breeding
Divisions:	Maize Millet Sorghum
Depositing User:	Ms K Syamalamba
Date Deposited:	08 May 2012 09:11
Last Modified:	08 May 2012 09:11
Official URL:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02858337
URI:	http://eprints.icrisat.ac.in/id/eprint/5175

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