Discovery of natural Miscanthus (Poaceae) triploid plants in sympatric populations of Miscanthus sacchariflorus and Miscanthus sinensis in southern Japan

Abstract

This is the first report of the natural occurrence of Miscanthus triploid plants in several decades. If found to be sterile and similar in productivity to the commonly cultivated clone of M. ×giganteus, these triploid plants might serve as additional sources of genetic variation for bioenergy production. Seed set data also indicates that other triploid plants might be found in more northern regions of Japan.