Table 1.

Urochloa forage crop clades and their crop wild relatives (CWRs) defined here. Comparisons among forage traits between forage species and CWR are summarized.

	Forage species	CWR species	Forage species traits	CWR native to African continent	CWR forage traits
Brizantha Clade	U. brizantha U. decumbens U. ruziziensis	U. eminii U. oligobrachiata	Perennial growth habit, tall culms, large leaves, broad or narrow winged rachis, large seeds	Yes	Annual growth habits, tall culms, large leaves, broad winged rachis, large seeds
Humidicola Clade	U. humidicola	U. brevispicata U. dictyoneura U. dura U. reticulata U. stigmatisata	Perennial growth habit, tall culms, medium leaves, narrow winged rachis, large seeds	Yes	Annual and perennial growth habits, medium culms, small to medium leaves, narrow winged rachis, medium to large seeds
Megathyrsus Clade	M. maximus	U. chusqueoides U. humbertiana U. leersiodes	Perennial growth habit, tall culms, large leaves, wingless rachis, large seeds	Yes	Annual and perennial growth habits, short to medium culms, short leaves, wingless rachis, small to medium seeds
Mutica Clade	U. arrecta U. mutica	N/A	Perennial growth habit, tall culms, large leaves, broad winged rachis, large seeds	Yes	N/A
Trichopus Clade	U. mosambicensis U. trichopus	U. panicoides U. ramosa	Perennial or annual growth habit, tall culms, large leaves, narrow winged rachis, large seeds	Yes	Annual growth habits, medium to large leaves, small seeds, medium to tall culms, wingless and narrow winged rachis