Phylogeny of the family Alstroemeriaceae

AAGESEN, LONE; SANSO, MARIEL

Sydney, Australia

Congreso; Second International Conference on the Comparative Biology of the Monocotyledons; 1998

Alstroemeriaceae Dumort. is mainly South American and includes the genera Alstroemeria L. (c. 50), Bomarea Mirb. (c. 90), and the monotypic Leontochir Phil. The Alstroemerias are primarily found in the southern Andes and the Brazilian highlands, with most species in Chile and Brazil. Two Alstroemeria species have been proposed as monotypic genera, A. pygmaea Herb. (Schickendantzia Pax) and A. graminea Phil. (Taltalia Ehr. Bayer). The goal of the present study is to analyse the phylogeny of the family with emphasis on the genus Alstroemeria. A cladistic analysis has been made in order to evaluate relationships among the three genera based on both morphological and on DNA sequence data from the chloroplast gene rps16. Chilean and Brazilian Alstroemeria species have been included in the study together with Leontochir ovallei, three Bomarea taxa representing the formal subgenera of this poorly studied genus, A. pygmaea, and A. graminea. The selected outgroups include Uvularia, Disporum, and Luzuriaga, while Dioscorea has been used for rooting. The morphological matrix reflects a high level of homoplasy within Alstroemeria. However, preliminary results suggest that morphological and DNA sequence data agree in the monophyly of Bomarea and Alstroemeria with Leontochir being closest related to Bomarea. There is no justification for separating either A. pygmaea or A. graminea from Alstroemeria as both species are nested within Alstroemeria. Apparently the Chilean and Brazilian Alstroemeria species are not monophyletic subgroups, though a group of Brazilian species, mainly characterised by rigid leaves, may be monophyletic. It is planned to sequence 5S DNA in order to obtain a more reliable phylogenetic pattern for the genus Alstroemeria.