Abstract.
Using sequences from the plastid trnL-F region and nrDNA ITS, we investigated the phylogeny of the fleshy-fruited African tribe Haemantheae of the Amaryllidaceae across 19 species representing all genera of the tribe. ITS and a combined matrix produce the most resolute and well-supported tree with parsimony analysis. Two main clades are resolved, one comprising the monophyletic rhizomatous genera Clivia and Cryptostephanus, and a larger clade that unites Haemanthus and Scadoxus as sister genera to an Apodolirion/Gethyllis subclade. One of four included Gethyllis species, G. lanuginosa, resolves as sister to Apodolirion with ITS. Relationships among the Clivia species are not in agreement with a previous published phylogeny. Biogeographic analysis using the divergence/vicariance method roots the tribe in Eastern South Africa, with several subsequent dispersals to the winter rainfall Western Cape region. Chromosomal change from an ancestral 2n=22 (characteristic of Clivia) is associated with each main clade. Reduction in number has occurred in all but Cryptostephanus, which has 2n=24 chromosomes. Increasing the sampling across all of the species in the tribe will allow a more detailed understanding of the biogeographic patterns inherent in the parsimony topology, which undoubtedly reflect Quaternary climatic changes in Southern Africa.
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Meerow, A., Clayton, J. Generic relationships among the baccate-fruited Amaryllidaceae (tribe Haemantheae) inferred from plastid and nuclear non-coding DNA sequences. Plant Syst. Evol. 244, 141–155 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-003-0085-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-003-0085-z