The Phylogeny of Leucothoee s. l. (Ericaceae: Vaccinioideae) Based on Morphological and Molecular (ndhF, matK, and nrITS) Data

Leucothoee s. l. has been split into as many as three genera in current taxonomic work involving morphological data. In this paper, phylogenetic relationships within Leucothoee s. l. were examined using DNA sequence data from matK, ndhF, nrITS, and morphological characters. The total combined data i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Systematic botany 2010-01, Vol.35 (1), p.201-206
Main Authors: Bush, Catherine M, Judd, Walter S, Frazier, Louis, Kron, Kathleen A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chamaedaphne
Chamaedaphne calyculata
Ericaceae
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Leucothoee s. l. has been split into as many as three genera in current taxonomic work involving morphological data. In this paper, phylogenetic relationships within Leucothoee s. l. were examined using DNA sequence data from matK, ndhF, nrITS, and morphological characters. The total combined data indicate that Leucothoee s. l. species are distributed between two clades. Leucothoee racemosa and L. recurva are strongly supported as being sister taxa and are in turn sister to Chamaedaphne calyculata. These two Leucothoee species are deciduous and they exhibit "L. racemosa"-type autumn inflorescences (as does Chamaedaphne). The other six Leucothoee s. l. species (L. axillaris, L. davisiae, L. fontanesiana, L. grayana, L. griffithiana, and L. keiskei) form a strongly supported clade. Leucothoee grayana, a morphologically distinctive taxon, is sister to the other five species in this latter clade. Based on these data, it is proposed that Leucothoee s. l. should be divided into three genera: Eubotryoides (E. grayana), Eubotrys (E. racemosa and E. recurva), and Leucothoee s. s. (L. axillaris, L. davisiae, L. fontanesiana, L. griffithiana, and L. keiskei).
ISSN:0363-6445
DOI:10.1600/036364410790862443