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Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Robert Soreng

Research Associate

I am principally interested in grasses (fam. Poaceae), and specialize in the taxonomy of cool season grasses (Pooideae), particularly the genus Poa (ca. 500 species world-wide).  Having spent 8 years conducting molecular research on relationships among grasses at family, subfamily, tribal and genus levels, I now am able to devote my time to the study these plants in the herbarium and the field, while continuing to collaborate with colleagues on molecular studies. Poa possibly has the most variation in breeding systems of any genus of plants, and I study this variation to better assess the nature of species in this genus.  I also specialize in grass nomenclature and help to maintain and update the grass data in TROPICOS (Missouri Bot. Gards. taxonomic database).

Department / Division
Botany
Education
  • BS, Oregon State University, 1978
  • MS, New Mexico State Universtity, 1980
  • PhD, New Mexico State University, 1986
Publications
Article

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Chapter
  • Giussani, L. M., Anton, Ana M., Negritto, M. A., Romanutti, A. A., and Soreng, Robert J. 2012. "Poa L." in Monocotyledoneae. Poaceae: Aristiodoideae a Pharoideae, edited by Zuloaga, Fernando O., Rúgolo de Agrasar, Zulma E., and Anton, Ana M., 284– 339. Flora Argentina: Flora Vascular de la República Argentina. Córdoba: Graficamenta Ediciones.
  • Peterson, Paul M., Soreng, Robert J., and Smith, S. F. 2012. "Poaceae." in Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies, edited by Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro and Strong, Mark T., 714– 766. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany (98). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
  • Soreng, Robert J. 2012. "Clave de los Generos de Pooideae." in Monocotyledoneae. Poaceae: Pooideae, edited by Zuloaga, Fernando O., Rúgolo de Agrasar, Zulma E., and Anton, Ana M., 25– 31. Flora Argentina: Flora Vascular de la República Argentina. Córdoba: Graficamenta Ediciones.
  • Soreng, Robert J. 2012. "Tribu Poeae R. Br." in Monocotyledoneae. Poaceae: Pooideae, edited by Zuloaga, Fernando O., Rúgolo de Agrasar, Zulma E., and Anton, Ana M., 97– 102. Flora Argentina: Flora Vascular de la República Argentina. Córdoba: Graficamenta Ediciones.
  • Soreng, Robert J. and Gillespie, L. J. 2012. "Nicoraepoa." in Monocotyledoneae. Poaceae: Pooideae, edited by Zuloaga, Fernando O., Rúgolo de Agrasar, Zulma E., and Anton, Ana M., 270– 277. Flora Argentina: Flora Vascular de la República Argentina. Córdoba: Graficamenta Ediciones.
  • Gillespie, Lynn J., Soreng, Robert J., Paradis, L. Michel, and Bull, Roger D. 2010. "Phylogeny and reticulation in Poinae subtribal complex based on nrITS, ETS, and trnTLF data." in Diversity, Phylogeny, and Evolution in the Monocotyledons, edited by Seberg, O., Peterson, G., Barfod, A., and Davis, J. I., 589– 617. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
  • Romaschenko, Konstantin, Peterson, Paul M., Soreng, Robert J., Garcia-Jacas, N., and Susanna, A. 2010. "Phylogenetics of Stipeae (Poaceae: Pooideae) based on plastid and nuclear DNA sequences." in Diversity, phylogeny, and evolution in the Monocotyledons, edited by Seberg, O., Petersen, G., Barfod, A. S., and Davis, J. I., 511– 537. Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press.
  • Saarela, Jeffrey M., Liu, Qing, Peterson, Paul M., Soreng, Robert J., and Paszko, Beata. 2010. "Phylogenetics of the grass 'Aveneae-type plastid DNA clade' (Poaceae: Pooideae, Poeae) based on plastid and nuclear ribosomal DNA sequence data." in Diversity, phylogeny, and evolution in the Monocotyledons, edited by Seberg, O., Petersen, G., Barfod, A. S., and Davis, J. I., 557– 587. Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press.
  • Soreng, Robert J., Bull, Roger D., and Gillespie, Lynn J. 2010. "Phylogeny and reticulation in Poa based on plastid trnTLF and nrITS sequences with attention to diploids." in Diversity, Phylogeny, and Evolution in the Monocotyledons, edited by Seberg, O., Peterson, G., Barfod, A., and Davis, J. I., 619– 643. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
  • Soreng, Robert J. 2009. "8.10 Poa L." in Grasses of the Intermountain Region, edited by Anderton, L. K. and Barkworth, Mary E., 108– 135. Logan, Utah: Intermountain Herbarium.
  • Peterson, Paul M. and Soreng, Robert J. 2007. "Systematics of California grasses (Poaceae)." in California grasslands: ecology and management, edited by Stromberg, M. R., Corbin, J. D., and D'Antonio, C. M., 7– 20. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Soreng, Robert J. 2007. "Poa L." in Manual of Grasses for North America, edited by Barkworth, Mary E., Anderton, L. K., Capels, K. M., Long, S., and Piep, M. B., 112– 141, 396-405, 521-523. Logan: Intermountain Herbarium and Utah State University Press.
  • Soreng, Robert J. 2007. "Poa L." in Flora of North America, Poaceae, part 1, vol. 24., edited by Barkworth, Mary E., Capels, K. M., Long, S. L., and Piep, M. B., 486– 601. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Liu, L., Zhu, G. H., Soreng, Robert J., and Olonova, M. V. 2006. "Poa." in Flora of China: Poaceae, Volume 22, edited by Wu, Z. Y., Raven, Peter H., and Hong, De-Yuan., 257– 309. Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
  • Wu, Z. L., Lu, S. L., Liu, L., Zhu, G. H., Chen, S. L., Chen, X., Phillips, S. M., Soreng, Robert J., Aiken, S. G., Tzvelev, N. N., and Olonova, M. V. 2006. "Tribe Poeae." in Flora of China: Poaceae, Volume 22, edited by Wu, Z. Y., Raven, Peter H., and Hong, De-Yuan., 224– 316.
  • Soreng, Robert J. 2002. "Poa L." in The Jepson Desert Manual: Vascular Plants of Southeastern California, edited by Baldwin, Bruce G., Boyd, S., Ertter, B. J., Patterson, R. W., Rosatti, T. J., and Wilkin, D. H., 593– 595, 597. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Soreng, Robert J. 2001. "Poa." in Illustrated Flora of British Columbia, edited by Douglas, G. W., Meidinger, D., and Pojar, J., 224– 257. Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management.
  • Soreng, Robert J. 2000. "Apomixis and amphimixis comparative biogeography: a study in Poa (Poaceae)." in Grasses: Systematics and Evolution: International Symposium on Grass Systematis and Evolution (3rd: 1998), edited by Jacobs, W. L. and Everett, J., 294– 306.
  • Soreng, Robert J. and Davis, J. I. 2000. "Phylogenetic structure in Poaceae subfamily Pooideae as inferred from molecular and morphological characters: misclassification versus reticulation." in Grasses: Systematics and Evolution (International Symposium on Grass Systematics and Evolution (3rd: 1998), edited by Jacobs, W. L. and Everett, J., 61– 74.
  • Grass Phylogeny Working Group, Barker, N. P., Clark, L. G., Davis, J. I., Duvall, M. R., Guala, Gerald F., Hsiao, C., Kellogg, E. A., Linder, H. P., Mason-Gamer, R., Mathews, S., Soreng, Robert J., and Spangler, R. 1998. "A Phylogeny of the Grass Family (Poaceae), as Inferred from Eight Cheracter Sets." in Grasses: Systematics and Evolution: International Symposium on Grass Systematics and Evolution (3rd: 1998), edited by Jacobs, W. L. and Everett, J., 3– 7.
  • Soreng, Robert J. 1994. "Poa L." in The Vascular Plants of British Columbia, part 4, edited by Douglas, G. D., Straley, G. B., and Meidinger, D., 129– 138.
  • Soreng, Robert J. 1993. "Poa L." in The Jepson Manual, Higher Plants of California, edited by Hickman, J. C., 1284– 1291. University of California Press.

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Book
Web Page
  • Soreng, Robert J., Peterson, Paul M., and Annable, C. R. 1995. "Catalogue of the C. B. Trinius Gramineae Herbarium."