The Catalogue of New World Grasses (http://mobot.mobot.org/W3T/Search/nwgc.html) contains information on nomenclature, taxonomy, synonymy, original publication, type collections, secondary references, and distribution by country for the Chloridoideae. This work covers 3654 binomial and trinomial names, which are either accepted or listed as synonyms. The number of accepted genera = 70 (62 native, 8 introduced), and the number of accepted species = 672 (604 native species) of these 148 are further separated into subspecific rank (total number of taxa = 810). Accepted names are additionally marked as cultivated (45 species) or introduced (68 species) to our region. Within North America there are 563 (70%) taxa, whereas in Central America and South America there are 462 and 387 taxa, respectively. Mexico has the highest number of chloridoids for any country in the Americas at 406. Of the 387 chloridoid taxa that occur in South America, 203 of these are not found in North or Central America. There are 273 taxa that occur in North and Central America, and 145 taxa that occur in North, Central, and South America. This pattern of distribution suggests that the Chloridoideae probably radiated in a north to south direction following their introduction into the New World. A classification of subfamily Chloridoideae will also be presented.

Key words: biogeography, Chloridoideae, classification, nomenclature, Poaceae, taxonomy