Polyphyly of Limoniastrum (Plumbaginaceae):: evidence from DNA sequences of plastid rbcL, trnL intron and trnL-F intergene spacer

Phylogenetic relationships of Limoniastrum and other genera of subfamily Staticoideae (Plumbaginaceae) were studied using parsimony analysis of the plastid gene rbcL, the intron of trnL and the intergene spacer of trnL-trnF. Our analysis showed that Limoniastrum was polyphyletic. Limoniastrum ifniense, in both rbcL and combined data analyses, is sister to Armeria and Psylliostachys, whereas in the trnL-F (intron and spacer combined) analysis it is sister to a clade composed of Acantholimon, Dictyolimon and the remaining species of Limoniastrum. In all analyses, the five remaining species of Limoniastrum (excluding Limoniastrum ifniense) formed a clade with two groups of species: L. monopetalum + L. guyonianum and those sometimes considered as the segregate genus Bubania (L. feei, L. weygandiorum and L. rechingeri). Levels of sequence divergence among these thr ee groups of Limoniastrum were greater than for other well supported genera in the family and, in combination with morphological differences and paucity of synapomorphies, led us to conclude that separate generic status for each of the three clades is warranted. (C) 2000 The Linnean Society of London.