Abstract Detail

Systematics Section

Sidoti, Brian J. [1], Cameron, Kenneth M. [2].

Preliminary phylogenetic analysis of the Tillandsia fasciculata Sw. (Bromeliaceae) complex.

Tillandsioideae, one of eight subfamilies in the Bromeliaceae, contains over 1300 species and has some of the most wide-ranging species of bromeliads in the Neotropics. Subfamily delimitations are based on presence of complex foliar trichomes, comose seed appendages, and extreme xerophytism. Molecular studies have supported traditional morphological circumscription of this subfamily and found it to be monophyletic. Plastid sequence data have been used to study the relationship at the generic and infrageneric levels in Tillandsioideae, but no molecular research has been conducted on species complexes within this subfamily. The genus Tillandsia (ca. 500 species) as currently circumscribed consists of several distinct species groups whose relationships among each other are unresolved. The T. fasciculata complex, which occurs in and around the Caribbean Basin, is one such poorly understood group. This species complex consists of eight subspecific varieties, 19 supravarietal taxa of uncertain rank, and 3 natural hybrids. Entities of the T. fasciculata complex have a perceived affinity to one another based on morphological characters such as castaneous leaf sheath, floral bracts generally glabrous, and blue-violet corolla. The goal of this study was to test the monophyly of the T. fasciculata complex and placement of the clade within Tillandsioideae. Noncoding cpDNA regions and low-copy nuclear genes were screened from 14 of the 30 taxa in the T. fasciculata complex. The significance of this research is to clarify species boundaries and better understand relationships within one of the largest angiosperm genera.

Broader Impacts:

1 - University of Wisconsin-Madison, Botany, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI, 53706-1381, USA
2 - University of Wisconsin, Madison, Herbarium and Department of Botany, Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Dr., Madison, WI, 53706, USA

Keywords:
Bromeliaceae
Tillandsia
Caribbean.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Hall A/Convention Center
Date: Monday, August 2nd, 2010
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PSY040
Abstract ID:613