Notes on Elatostema section Androsyce Wedd. (Urticaceae)

An integrative approach to species delimitation sinks three Chinese limestone karst Elatostema (Urticaceae) species

“…Over the past two decades, there has been some instability in Elatostema species delimitation in China with several Elatostema species being placed in synonymy or reduced to ranks below that of species ( Duan and Lin 2003 ; Lin and Duan 2003 ; Duan et al 2006 ; Lin et al 2011 ) and then raised back to species rank ( Wang 2010a , 2014 ) because of different opinions on the importance of specific morphological characters. Wang (2010a) studied bract and bracteole morphology of Elatostema and concluded that their number, shape and size are relatively constant.…”

“…More recently, additional morphological characters, such as male inflorescences borne on modified stems, were identified and used to delimitate species ( Yang et al 2011 ; Wang 2014 ). The phylogenetic informativeness of these characters has not, however, been evaluated ( Lin et al 2011 ). Controversy in species delimitation cannot, therefore, be resolved by morphological evidence alone.…”