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Tenth Annual
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Morphological Analysis Reveals Novel Species of Lomatium in Adams County

Author(s): Mckayla M. Stevens , Donald H. Mansfield , Lauren Polito

Presentation: poster

Phylogenetic analyses of Lomatium (Apiaceae) based on chloroplast and nuclear DNA sequence data (from ITS, rpl32-trnLUAG, and rps16 intron genes) have shown that genetically similar groups of Lomatium grayi and L. anomalum are highly variable morphologically. L. grayi specimens within a single clade (L. grayi/L. anomalum) have greater morphological similarity to specimens first identified as L. grayi (‘L.grayi novum’) in a second clade (Adams County clade) than to specimens of L. anomalum in its own clade. We do not know the defining morphological traits (synapomorphies) that should characterize the L. grayi/L. anomalum clade. To investigate this morphological anomaly, I measured 17 root, stem, leaf, and fruit characteristics and 7 ecological characteristics among 20 herbarium specimens of plants from populations of 4 species of Lomatium. I compared these morphological and ecological characters to a strict consensus phylogenetic tree in an attempt to identify defining characteristics for each clade. Because neither morphological nor ecological characters appeared consistently within the L. gray/L. anomalum clade, the synapomorphies for this clade remain elusive. However, I have shown that ‘L. grayi novum’ is morphologically and geographically distinct from L. grayi in the L. grayi/L. anomalum clade, suggesting that ‘L. grayi novum’ is a new species.

 

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