Taxonomy and phylogeny of some geophilic Umbelliferae - Apioideae genera based on anatomical, morphological and molecular data

Abstract

The paper provides an overview of the concordance between molecular (nuclear ribosomal DNA ITS) and morphological data in the group of geophilic Umbelliferae of Middle Asia, which includes the genera Elwendia, Elaeosticta, Hyalolaena, Galagania, Oedibasis, Mogoltavia and Gongylotaxis. In general, a good consistency of data of different types can be observed. At the same time, at some levels of the taxonomic hierarchy, the consistency between morphological and molecular data looks much higher than at others. The identification of the group of geophilic Umbelliferae agrees much better with molecular data than the boundaries between genera within it and the proposed intrageneric groupings. Some observed cases of inconsistency, such as the position of Hyalolaena melanorrhiza among the species of the genus Elaeosticta and the polyphyly of the genera Hyalolaena and Oedibasis, are rather difficult to explain from a morphological point of view, only from a biogeography.