Abstract Detail

Systematics Section

Heaney, James [1], Cooper, Hillary [2], Ruiz-Sanchez, Eduardo [3], Specht, Chelsea [3], Soltis, Douglas [4], Soltis, Pamela [5].

Systematics of Nolina (Nolineae, Ruscaceae).

Nolina is taxonomically complex and badly in need of molecular phylogenetic analysis. Recent studies of Nolineae have focused on either Beaucarnea or Dasylirion. Relationships in Nolina and the relationship of the genus to other genera of the Ruscaceae remain unclear. We used a large plastid data set (5607 bp), as well as ITS, for 41 taxa (22 in Nolina) to elucidate relationships among Nolina species and between Nolina and its closest relatives. Support for the monophyly of the tribe is strong. Unlike in previous analyses with significantly smaller sample sizes, all three genera are consistently resolved as monophyletic. Beaucarnea (including Calibanus) is sister to Dasylirion, and these two groups form a strongly supported clade sister to Nolina. However, few morphological synapomorphies for Nolina are apparent. The pronounced secondary thickening at the stem base, as occurs in Beaucarnea, is absent in Nolina, except in N. interrata. Serrations on the leaf margins are minute, as opposed to pronounced in Dasylirion, and inflorescences are typically open panicles unlike the closely packed panicles in Dasylirion. Nonetheless, exceptions do occur in Dasylirion, and minutely serrated leaf margins and open inflorescences also characterize Beaucarnea. This has led to the lumping of Beaucarnea with Nolina in some previous treatments. Relationships within Nolina will be discussed in the context of the classification by Trelease into four sections, although these groups generally appear to be artificial in preliminary results.

Broader Impacts:

1 - University Of Florida, Dickinson Hall, Museum Road, Gainesville, FL, 32611-7800, USA
2 - Northern Arizona University, Department of Biological Sciences, P.O. Box 5640, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011, USA
3 - University of California, Berkeley, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, 111 Koshland Hall, MC 3102, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
4 - University Of Florida, Department Of Botany, 220 BARTRAM HALL, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
5 - University Of Florida, Florida Museum Of Natural History, Dickinson Hall, Gainesville, FL, 32611-7800, USA

Keywords:
Nolina
Nolineae
Ruscaceae
nrITS
cpDNA.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 35
Location: Lindell C/Chase Park Plaza
Date: Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
Time: 3:30 PM
Number: 35008
Abstract ID:675