Nafiseh Yousefi Mahmood,
Volume 15, Issue 57 (12-2024)
Abstract
Ami and Background: Antirrhineae is a large tribe within Plantaginaceae that some genera of this tribe have undergone significant taxonomic changes in recent years, many of which have yet to be assessed by detailed phylogenetic analyses, including Kickxia, Nanorrhinum and Chaenorhinum.
Material and Methods: To examine the monophyly, relationships, and rank of Kickxia, Nanorrhinum, and Chaenorhinum, a phylogenetic analysis of ITS sequence data was conducted, with special focus on the Flora Iranica region. Representatives of Kickxia s.l., Anarrhinum, Chaenorhinum, some additional genera of Antirrhineae, and several outgroup taxa from Plantaginaceae were sampled. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted using Bayesian inference and maximum Parsimony.
Results: Our results showed that the monophyletic genus of Chaenorhinum can be subdivided into Chaenorhinum and Microrrhinum, partially matching two of the currently recognized sections of the genus. Albraunia and Holzneria are nested within the Chaenorhinum clade and should not be recognized as distinct genera. In monophyletic genus of Kickxia two clades corresponding to sect. Kickxia and sect. Valvatae were also highly supported. Our data, when combined with all other available evidence, support recognition of the clade comprising Kickxia sect. Valvatae at the genus level, as Nanorrhinum. Based on this result, four names are here transferred to Nanorrhinum.
Conclusion: Although sampling strategy in this study provided strong evidence for the delimitation of studied genera, but obtained results showed that increased tax on sampling as well as additional markers is still necessary for further subdivisions of these genera.
