Insights into the Evolution of <I>Pitcairnia</I> (Pitcairnioideae-Bromeliaceae), based on Morphological Evidence

Abstract

One of the largest (ca. 450 accepted names) and most widely distributed genera of Bromeliaceae is Pitcairnia, with species occurring in Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and throughout much of South America. The present study developed a phylogenetic hypothesis based on macro-and micromorphology, and tested the monophyly of the genus and subgenera, as well as the position of P. feliciana. The study included 67 species of Pitcairnia and 12 outgroup taxa selected to represent the morphological diversity and areas of endemism of Bromeliaceae. The results supported the monophyly of Pitcairnia, as indicated by two non-homoplasious and five homoplasious synapomorphies. Pitcairnia subgenus Pepinia and Pitcairnia subgenus Pitcairnia did not form a monophyletic group. Pitcairnia feliciana appeared to be related to the Atlantic Forest taxa. Phylogenetic relationships among the species recorded in the three Brazilian phytogeographic domains (Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, and Amazon) were obtained, and the relationships showed that the members of Pitcairnia occupied the three Brazilian domains through several routes.

Hydraulics link leaf shape and environmental niche in terrestrial bromeliads

“…On the basis of these phylogenetic topology assumed here (Saraiva et al . ), early‐diverging species tended to show linear‐spinose leaves, while through the remainder of the genus, there appear to have been repeated transitions between linear, reduced linear, broad linear, lanceolate, and petiolate leaf shapes.…”

“…For Pitcairnia , the tree used here was based on the morphological phylogeny of Saraiva et al . () and included 56 terminal taxa. For the terrestrial Bromelioideae, a composite tree was produced based on molecular phylogenetic analyses, using information from Givnish et al .…”

Distribution of the xeric clade species of Pitcairnioideae (Bromeliaceae) in South America: a perspective based on areas of endemism

“…On the other hand, Deuterocohnia , Dyckia and Encholirium exhibit xeric morphological and physiological characteristics, and belong to an informal group called the xeric clade of Pitcairnioideae. This clade is well‐supported in phylogenetic analyses based on morphological and plastid DNA sequence data (Givnish et al ., ; Santos‐Silva et al ., ; Saraiva et al ., ; Schütz et al ., ).…”

Morphological phylogeny of Tradescantia L. (Commelinaceae) sheds light on a new infrageneric classification for the genus and novelties on the systematics of subtribe Tradescantiinae

“…), can indeed recover evolutionary hypotheses congruent with molecular-based phylogenies. In the past years, morphology-based phylogenies have become much less common than molecular-based phylogenies (Saraiva et al 2015). Nonetheless, morphological characters can greatly improve the resolution of phylogenetic hypothesis in plant groups (Aagesen and Sanso 2003; Evans et al 2003; Wade et al 2003; Barfuss et al 2005, 2015; Faria 2006; Rex et al 2009; Saraiva et al 2015; Gomes-da-Silva and Souza-Chies 2017).…”

“…In the past years, morphology-based phylogenies have become much less common than molecular-based phylogenies (Saraiva et al 2015). Nonetheless, morphological characters can greatly improve the resolution of phylogenetic hypothesis in plant groups (Aagesen and Sanso 2003; Evans et al 2003; Wade et al 2003; Barfuss et al 2005, 2015; Faria 2006; Rex et al 2009; Saraiva et al 2015; Gomes-da-Silva and Souza-Chies 2017). Furthermore, without the inclusion of morphological characters in a phylogenetic analysis, there is no way to obtain morphological synapomorphies to support the recovered relationships and any proposed new classification (Lipscomb et al 2003; Wiens 2004; Assis and Rieppel 2011).…”