Biomass yield in a genetically diverse <i>Miscanthus sinensis</i> germplasm panel evaluated at five locations revealed individuals with exceptional potential

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>To breed improved biomass cultivars of <jats:italic>Miscanthus</jats:italic> ×giganteus, it will be necessary to select the highest‐yielding and best‐adapted genotypes of its parental species, <jats:italic>Miscanthus sinensis</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Miscanthus sacchariflorus</jats:italic>. We phenotyped a diverse clonally propagated panel of 569 <jats:italic>M. sinensis</jats:italic> and nine natural diploid <jats:italic>M</jats:italic>. ×<jats:italic>giganteus</jats:italic> at one subtropical (Zhuji, China) and five temperate locations (Sapporo, Japan; Leamington, Ontario, Canada; Fort Collins, CO; Urbana, IL; and Chuncheon, Korea) for dry biomass yield and 14 yield‐component traits, in trials grown for 3 years. Notably, dry biomass yield of four <jats:italic>Miscanthus</jats:italic> accessions exceeded 80 Mg/ha in Zhuji, China, approaching the highest observed for any land plant. Additionally, six <jats:italic>M. sinensis</jats:italic> in Sapporo, Japan and one in Leamington, Canada also yielded more than the triploid <jats:italic>M</jats:italic>. ×<jats:italic>giganteus</jats:italic> ‘1993‐1780’ control, with values exceeding 20 Mg/ha. Diploid <jats:italic>M</jats:italic>. ×<jats:italic>giganteus</jats:italic> was the best‐yielding group at the northern sites. Genotype‐by‐environment interactions were modest among the five northern trial sites but large between Zhuji, and the northern sites. <jats:italic>M. sinensis</jats:italic> accessions typically yielded best at trial sites with latitudes similar to collection sites, although broad adaptation was observed for accessions from southern Japan. Genotypic heritabilities for third year yields ranged from 0.71 to 0.88 within locations. Compressed circumference was the best predictor of yield. These results establish a baseline of data for initiating selection to improve biomass yield of <jats:italic>M. sinensis</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>M</jats:italic>. ×<jats:italic>giganteus</jats:italic> in a diverse set of relevant geographies.</jats:p>