Abstract Detail

Systematics Section/ASPT

Sidoti, Brian [1], Cameron, Kenneth [2].

A phylogeny of Tillandsia fasciculata Sw. (Bromeliaceae) complex.

Within Tillandsioideae (Bromeliaceae), plastid sequence data have been used to examine relationships at the generic and infrageneric levels, but only one study has been conducted on a species complex within this subfamily. The genus Tillandsia (ca. 500 species) consists of several distinct species groups whose relationships among each other are unresolved. The T. fasciculata complex, which occurs in and around the Caribbean Basin, is one such poorly understood group. This species complex consists of eight subspecific varieties, 19 supravarietal taxa of uncertain rank, and 3 natural hybrids. Entities of the T. fasciculata complex have a perceived affinity to one another based on morphological characters such as castaneous leaf sheath, floral bracts generally glabrous, and blue-violet corolla. The goal of this study is to reconstruct a more thoroughly sampled,well resolved phylogeny in order to determine relationships among "T. fasciculata" taxa. Noncoding cpDNA regions and low-copy nuclear genes were sequenced from 22 of the 35 taxa in the T. fasciculata complex.Preliminary results indicate weak support for a T. fasciculata clade as understood historically. However,a geographical pattern is evident, in which one clade corresponds to Caribbean Islands plus Florida, and another series of clades are of plants collected in Mexico. The significance of this research is to clarify species boundaries within Tillandsia, one of the largest genera of angiosperms, and to add to the growing body of literature on plant Caribbean biogeography.

Broader Impacts:

1 - University Of Wisconsin-Madison, 244 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI, 53706-1381, USA
2 - University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dept of Botany, WI State Herbarium, Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Dr., Madison, WI, 53706, USA

Keywords:
Bromeliaceae
Caribbean
Tillandsia
phylogeny.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 15
Location: Franklin B/Hyatt
Date: Monday, July 9th, 2012
Time: 1:45 PM
Number: 15002
Abstract ID:727