Phylogeny and species delimitation in Silene sect. Arenosae (Caryophyllaceae): a new section.

Frida Eggens,Bengt Oxelman,Shahin Zarre,Simon Crameri,Farzaneh Jafari,Mikael Thollesson

doi:10.3897/phytokeys.159.51500

Frida Eggens, Bengt Oxelman + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.159.51500

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Abstract

A putatively monophyletic group of annual Silene species is revised taxonomically and described as the new section S. sect. Arenosae. The species of this section were previously treated as a part of a widely circumscribed and polyphyletic S. sect. Rigidulae. Silene sect. Arenosae as circumscribed here consists of nine species. Members of the section show a predominantly E Mediterranean to SW Asian distribution pattern from Turkey southward to Egypt and eastward to Iran and Pakistan, although most of the species have a limited distribution range. The species of S. sect. Arenosae are characterized by narrowly lanceolate calyx teeth, which are often highly polymorphic, and lanceolate to oblanceolate (non-spathulate) basal leaves. The provided taxonomic revision is based on morphological characters and supported by phylogenetic analyses of two nuclear loci (nrITS and an intron of the RPB2 gene) and one chloroplast locus (the intron of the rps16 gene). The species descriptions are formalized using a novel implementation of the Prometheus Description Model.

Highlights

Silene L. is a large genus of the family Caryophyllaceae, with around 870 currently (Jafari et al 2020) recognized species that are mainly distributed in the northern hemisphere, South Africa and South America, in temperate to arctic regions and a wide range of habitats (Manning and Goldblatt 2012, Frajman et al 2018, Jafari et al 2020)
One of the clades recognized in Eggens (2006) comprises taxa found in SW Asia including Turkey, Armenia, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula, and extending eastwards to Pakistan
We present morphological, phylogenetic and geographical data on the “SW Asian Clade” that accumulated since Eggens (2006)

Summary

Introduction

Silene L. is a large genus of the family Caryophyllaceae, with around 870 currently (Jafari et al 2020) recognized species that are mainly distributed in the northern hemisphere, South Africa and South America, in temperate to arctic regions and a wide range of habitats (Manning and Goldblatt 2012, Frajman et al 2018, Jafari et al 2020). Chowdhuri (1957) delimited 44 sections and his taxonomy has been applied by authors of local floras in the Mediterranean region and SW Asia, including Palestine (Zohary 1966), Turkey (Coode and Cullen 1967), the Iranian Highlands (Melzheimer 1988), the Flora Europaea (Chater et al 1993), and Iraq (Townsend et al 2016). One of the clades recognized in Eggens (2006) comprises taxa found in SW Asia including Turkey, Armenia, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula, and extending eastwards to Pakistan. This clade, referred to as the “Middle East Clade” in Eggens (2006), is a strongly supported monophyletic group with associated morphological characters (often densely ciliate and lanceolate calyx teeth, and often oblanceolate rather than spathulate basal leaves) that distinguish them from other taxa earlier assigned to S. sect. In the present study we refer to this clade as the “SW Asian Clade”

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