Unable to connect to database - 05:47:17 Unable to connect to database - 05:47:17 SQL Statement is null or not a SELECT - 05:47:17 SQL Statement is null or not a DELETE - 05:47:17 Botany & Mycology 2009 - Abstract Search
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Abstract Detail


Pteridological Section/AFS

Sigel, Erin M.  [1], Windham, Michael D.  [1], Pryer, Kathleen M. [1].

To have or have not: Using farina to delineate major clades within the false cloak ferns (Argyrochosma).

Among ferns, the xeric-adapted cheilanthoids (Pteridaceae), provide a prime example of convergent evolution. Genera in this group have been circumscribed using a suite of morphological characters (e.g., leaf dissection and pubescence, presence or absence of a false indusium) that directly relate to the plant’s ability to survive in arid environments. Dependence on such easily observed, but potentially homoplastic, characters to define taxa in this group has resulted in a taxonomic conundrum: nearly every major genus has been shown to be polyphyletic. Here we present the first plastid multigene (rbcL, atpA, and trnG-trnR) phylogeny of the strictly New World cheilanthoid genus Argyrochosma, the false cloak ferns. Our data strongly support the monophyly of this group and its exclusion from Notholaena sensu lato. We use our phylogeny to assess patterns of morphological evolution in the genus through character mapping and ancestral state reconstruction. Our data indicate that Argyrochosma is divided into two major clades– one exclusively non-farinose, and the other primarily farinose. Within the latter clade, at least two separate losses of farina have occurred in the polyphyletic A. nivea var. tenera. In addition to clarifying patterns of morphological evolution, the phylogenetic hypotheses presented here provide a critical context for addressing the ecology and geographic distribution of Argyrochosma species in North and South American deserts.


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1 - Duke University, Department of Biology, 139 Biological Sciences Building, PO Box 90338, Durham, North Carolina, 27708, USA

Keywords:
Argyrochosma
Cheilanthoid ferns
farina
homoplasy
morphological evolution.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for BSA Sections
Session: 1
Location: Alpine B/Snowbird Center
Date: Monday, July 27th, 2009
Time: 10:30 AM
Number: 1009
Abstract ID:712