Within the
PACMAD clade of grasses, the Panicoideae are sister to a clade made of the four subfamilies
Arundinoideae,
Chloridoideae,
Danthonioideae, and
Micrairoideae. A modern phylogenetic classification divides the Panicoideae in twelve
tribes corresponding to
monophyletic clades; two genera,
Chandrasekharania and
Jansenella, are unplaced (
incertae sedis) but probably belong to tribe
Tristachyideae. The three largest tribes,
Paniceae,
Paspaleae, and
Andropogoneae, together with the small
Arundinelleae, form the core of the subfamily. The
Gynerieae were formerly placed in Arundinoideae, and the basal lineage, the "centothecoid clade" with seven tribes, was formerly seen as separate subfamily, Centothecoideae. Phylogeny based on
chloroplast DNA analyses, showing relationships of tribes within the subfamily (dashed lines indicate uncertain positions; C4 clades flagged): }} ==Gallery==