“…Thus, the timing of the origin of several stem lineages within Lilium appears to correspond to the final, rapid phase of Q-T Plateau uplift (Liu et al, 2006;Zhang et al, 2000;Guo et al, 2002). High rates of biological diversification occurring 8-7 Mya and attributable to Q-T Plateau uplift have also been detected in other eastern Asian organisms from Compositae to catfish (e.g., Liu et al, 2006;Zhang and Fritsch, 2010;Peng et al, 2006;Wang et al, 2005). The generation of novel environments along newly-formed elevational gradients may have prompted ecological speciation in Lilium-Nomocharis.…”