LEE, BYOUNG-YOON* and CHONG-WOOK PARK. School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea 151-742. - A phylogeny of family Apiaceae genus Daucus derived from morphological characters: preliminary investigations.
The umbelliferous genus Daucus consists of approximately 25
species (including carrots) which are characterized by the presence of
spines and hairs on both primary and secondary ridges of dorsally
compressed fruits. The genus is distributed primarily in Meditteranean
areas, although it occurs also in South and North America, Australia,
and Africa. Taxonomically, Daucus has been considered to be one
of the most problematic genera in the Apiaceae due to the highly
variable fruit morphology. Despite taxonomical controversy and
economic importance of the genus, no rigorously constructed estimate
of phylogenetic relationship exists. To examine generic limit and
relationships among species of Daucus and relatives,
phylogenetic analyses of characters derived from morphology and
anatomy were conducted. The resulting consensus of parsimony trees
showed that: (1) there was a dichotomy between European taxa and
African, American taxa; (2) Daucus was not monophyletic with
members of the genera Agrocharis, Pachyctenium, and
Pseudorlaya nested within the genus; (3) The African genus
Agrocharis was incorporated within Daucus and showed
close relationships with American taxa of Daucus; (4) Daucus
glochidiatus with poorly understood relationships, restricted to
Australia and Papua New Guinea, was closely related to African D.
hochstetteri, and East Mediterranean D. durieua.
Key words: Apiaceae, Daucus