EVIDENCE FOR HYBRID ORIGIN OF FLAVERIA LATIFOLIA (COMPOSITAE)

Investigations of natural populations, cytological studies, and comparisons of herbarium specimens have been used to clarify the taxonomy of the Florida species of Flaveria. These studies indicate that F. latifolia is a hybrid between F. linearis and F. floridana. Apparently the “latifolia” plants represent stabilized populations that have become adapted to the fill material dredged from the ocean and used in road building and land development in southern Florida. The wide variation noted in populations of F. linearis and F. floridana is attributed to introgression. The paper includes a taxonomic treatment of the six species which occur in Florida. AU taxa are diploid with 2 n = 36. © 1968, The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved.