A molecular phylogeny and a revised classification of the Mediterranean genus Anthemis s.l. (Compositae, Anthemideae) based on three molecular markers and micromorphological characters

Abstract

A molecular phylogeny including c. 75% of all known species belonging to the closely related genera Anthemis and Cota (Compositae, Anthemideae) and based on nucleotide sequences from two plastid regions (psbA‐trnH and trnC‐petN spacers) and one nuclear marker (ITS) is presented. The molecular analyses were supplemented by a multivariate analysis of 25 micromorphological and anatomical characters. The results show incongruences among plastid and nuclear marker sets, which indicate that hybridisation may have played an important role in the evolution of this morphologically diverse plant group. However, molecular and morphological data both support a sister‐group relationship between four perennial species (A. calcarea, A. fruticulosa, A. marschalliana, A. trotzkiana) and the main clades of Cota and Anthemis. We propose segregation of these from Anthemis as a new genus, Archanthemis. With the exclusion of these four taxa, both the nrDNA and the cpDNA datasets support the monophyly of Anthemis. Further molecular and morphological evidence is provided for the generic independence of the genus Cota. The traditional infrageneric classifications of Anthemis and Cota are not entirely supported by the phylogenetic analyses as a picture of intense reticulate evolution among the different lineages emerges.

Fruit structure of 12 Turkish endemic Tripleurospermum Sch. Bip. (Asteraceae) taxa and its taxonomic implications

“…In addition, the layer of the outer testa is lignified, whereas that of inner layer is crushed. These results are in agreement with the data of Bruhl and Quinn (1990) for T. maritimum and of Lo Presti et al (2010) for some representatives of the genus. However, Bruhl and Quinn (1990) pointed out a testa vascular bundle in this species.…”

“…Distribution of slime cells on the fruit has valuable taxonomical significance in the tribe Anthemideae (Funk et al 2009;Lo Presti et al 2010). The presence or absence of the slime is also important for identification of Tripleurospermum species (Enayet Hossain 1975;Inceer 2003;Inceer and Hayirlioglu-Ayaz 2008).…”

“…However, Rauschert (1974) and Kay (1976) misapplied the name Matricaria to refer exclusively to the species of Tripleurospermum (Bremer and Humphries 1993). In addition, Oberprieler (2001), Oberprieler and Vogt (2006) and Lo Presti et al (2010) showed that Tripleurospermum is closely related to Anthemis in the strict sense and not to Matricaria. This is supported by the tetrasporic embryo sac shared by Tripleurospermum and Anthemis (vs. monosporic in Matricaria and other Anthemideae genera).…”

“…Morphological and anatomical features of the fruit have been demonstrated to be of paramount importance for the taxonomy and phylogeny of the tribe (Kynčlova 1970;Källersjö 1985;Chehregani and Mahanfar 2007;Funk et al 2009;Oberprieler et al 2009;Lo Presti et al 2010). Morphological features of the fruit such as size, shape, number of ribs and slime cells, and slime envelope formation were considered useful for identification of Tripleurospermum species (Kynčlova 1970;Enayet Hossain 1975;Chehregani and Mahanfar 2007;Lo Presti et al 2010).…”

“…Morphological features of the fruit such as size, shape, number of ribs and slime cells, and slime envelope formation were considered useful for identification of Tripleurospermum species (Kynčlova 1970;Enayet Hossain 1975;Chehregani and Mahanfar 2007;Lo Presti et al 2010). However, there are only a few taxonomic studies on the fruit structure of Tripleurospermum, and they are also limited to its a few representatives.…”