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Abstract Detail


Systematics Section/ASPT

Larson, Jason [1], Ballard Jr, Harvey [2].

Phenetic Analyses of Great Lakes Lycopodiella (Lycopodiaceae).

The family Lycopodiaceae is an ancient group with origins extending to the Early Carboniferous. Most genera were previously lumped into Lycopodium; the latter is now split into various segregates, including Lycopodiella. Six North American species of Lycopodiella are currently recognized: Lycopodiella alopecuroides, L. appressa, L. inundata, L. margueritiae,L. prostrata and L. subappressa,and several hybrid combinations have been reported. Most are diploid (2n=78) but Great Lakes endemics L. margueritiae and L. subappressa, and possibly some L. appressa, are tetraploid. Great Lakes endemics L. margueritiae and L. subappressa were described in 1991, ostensibly representing "Appressed Inundatum" and "Northern Appressum" of James Bruce's 1975 dissertation research on the genus in the region. Subsequent field and lab studies by the authors ,including phenetic analysis of 250 individuals based on 35 characters, reveal substantially greater morphospecies diversity than previously recognized (including at least two additional undescribed species) and great disparity between characterizations in Bruce's original dissertation, and the keys, species descriptions and type material in the 1991 publication. Bruce et al.'s (1991) concept of L. margueritiae is wholly different from Bruce's (1975) "Appressed Inundata", the latter being a taxon now known from only two extant southwestern Michigan sites. Type specimens of the name L. margueritiae phenetically cluster with plants of the undescribed taxon "Robust Inundata" and hybrids between it and L. inundata. Type specimens of L. subappressa cluster with plants matching Bruce's (1975) concept of "Northern Appressum" but all plants potentially referable to that broader concept (distributed in southern Michiganon both coasts and extending down into northern Indiana and Ohio) show considerable heterogeneity and might include more than one taxon. Yet another undescribed taxon, found for the first time in 2010, is a much more robust plant than anything yet found, consisting of a small clone or population at one southwestern Michigan site. The current revision of Great Lakes tetraploids and relatives is part of broader research on North American Lycopodiella, using expanded phenetic analyses, anatomical investigations and phylogenetic analysis of nuclear loci (including LEAFY) to delineate taxa and establish their evolutionary relationships and origins.

Broader Impacts:


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1 - Ohio University, Environmental And Plant Biology, Porter Hall 315, Richland Ave., Athens, OH, 45701, USA
2 - Ohio University, Environmental & Plant Biology, 315 Porter Hall, Athens, OH, 45701, USA

Keywords:
Lycopodiella
Lycopodiaceae.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 54
Location: Delaware B/Hyatt
Date: Wednesday, July 11th, 2012
Time: 1:45 PM
Number: 54002
Abstract ID:1004


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