Abstract Detail

Systematics Section

Hasenstab-Lehman, K.E. [1], Simpson, Michael [2].

Phylogenetic Systematics of the genus Cryptantha (Boraginaceae).

Cryptantha (Boraginaceae) is a genus of approximately 200 species of annual or perennial herbs, having an amphitropic distribution in western regions of North and South America. Species of Cryptantha have been classified in various generic and infrageneric groups, but all have been united as one genus in most recent systems based on a presumed fruit apomorphy:
nutlets having "ventral groove" attachment scar. Species and species complexes have largely been defined on plant duration, vestiture, floral cleistogamy, and nutlet sculpturing and heteromorphism. This is the first formal phylogenetic assessment of the genus as a whole. Molecular data from two DNA regions - nuclear ribosomal ITS and the chloroplast marker trnLF - were obtained for approximately 80 species of Cryptantha (belonging to most of the recognized infrageneric groups). Outgroup sampling includes approximately three to five species of the genera Plagiobothrys, Aminckia, and Pectocarya as well as more distantly related genera.  Both maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference methods were used to test the monophyly of and evaluate phylogenetic groupings within the genus. Preliminary data suggest that Cryptantha is non-monophyletic, with some monophyletic clades corresponding to previously defined genera or infrageneric groups. These results will likely lead to changes in generic and infrageneric classification. Ancestral state reconstruction, using parsimony and likelihood methods, were also used to evaluate morphological character evolution.

Broader Impacts:

Related Links:
Cryptantheae Taxonomy and Images

1 - Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and Claremont Graduate University, Research, 1500 N College Ave, Claremont, CA, 91711, USA
2 - San Diego State University, Biology, 5500 Campanile Dr, San Diego, CA, 92182, USA

Keywords:
Cryptantha
Cryptantheae
Boraginaceae
Boraginales
systematics
taxonomy
ancestral state reconstruction
phylogenetics.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 49
Location: 552B/Convention Center
Date: Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
Time: 8:15 AM
Number: 49002
Abstract ID:560