Taxonomic study on Japanese Salvia (Lamiaceae): Phylogenetic position of S. akiensis, and polyphyletic nature of S. lutescens var. intermedia.

Atsuko Takano

doi:10.3897/phytokeys.80.11611

Abstract

Both Salvia akiensis and S. lutescens (Lamiaceae) are endemic to Japan. Salvia akiensis was recently described in 2014 in the Chugoku (= SW Honshu) region, and each four varieties of S. lutescens distributed allopatrically. Among varieties in S. lutescens, var. intermedia show a disjunctive distribution in the Kanto (=E Honshu) and Kinki (= W Honshu) regions. Recent field studies of S. lutescens var. intermedia revealed several morphological differences between the Kanto and Kinki populations. Here, I evaluated these differences among Salvia lutescens var. intermedia and its allies with morphological analysis and molecular phylogenetic analyses of nuclear ribosomal DNA (internal and external transcribed spacer regions) and plastid DNA (ycf1-rps15 spacer, rbcL, and trnL-F) sequences. Both morphological analysis and molecular phylogenetic analyses showed that S. lutescens var. intermedia from the Kinki region and var. lutescens were closely related to each other. However, var. intermedia from the Kanto region exhibited an association with S. lutescens var. crenata and var. stolonifera, which also grew in eastern Japan, rather than var. intermedia in the Kinki region. These results indicated that S. lutescens var. intermedia is not a taxon with a disjunctive distribution, but a combination of two or more allopatric taxa. Present study also suggested that S. akiensis was most closely related to S. omerocalyx.

Highlights

The genus Salvia L. is the largest genus in Lamiaceae; it comprises nearly 1,000 species
Floral color and indumentums of var. stolonifera is same as var. crenata, var. stolonifera extends its stolon after anthesis (Nakai 1950)
A total of 89 specimens of S. lutescens var. intermedia, including its syntypes, of the 34 specimens are from Kanto region and 55 from Kinki, were examined in the following herbaria: the Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo (HYO); the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum (KPM); Kyoto University (KYO); Tokyo Metropolitan University (MAK), the Osaka Museum of Natural History (OSA), and The University of Tokyo (TI) (Appendix 1)

Summary

Introduction

The genus Salvia L. (tribe Mentheae) is the largest genus in Lamiaceae; it comprises nearly 1,000 species. (tribe Mentheae) is the largest genus in Lamiaceae; it comprises nearly 1,000 species. Salvia has radiated extensively into three regions of the world: Central and South America (500 spp.), West Asia (200 spp.), and East Asia (100 spp.) (Alziar, 1988–1993). In Japan, twelve species, eight varieties, and one putative hybrid have been described since Thunberg’s (1784) first account. The genus was classified into three subgenera (subg.), including Allagospadonopsis Briq., Salvia, and Sclarea (Moench) Benth, (Hihara et al 2001, Inoue 1997, Murata and Yamazaki 1993, Takano et al 2014). Most of the taxa are endemic to Japan, with the exception of S. japonica Thunb., S. nipponica Miq. and S. plebeia R.

Methods

Results

Conclusion