New Zealand Journal of Botany abstract
Whipcord Hebes - systematics, distribution, ecology and evolution
STEVEN J. WAGSTAFF
PETER WARDLE
Landcare Research
P.O. Box 69
Lincoln 8152, New Zealand
Abstract The genus
Hebe (Scrophulariaceae)
includes 10 species known as whipcords or Flagriformes. Analysis of DNA
sequences supports three distinct groups, each with characteristic chromosome
numbers and morphology. There is little sequence divergence within these
groups, which reflects rapid evolution, perhaps within the last 500 000 years.
Two groups comprise montane species of the eastern
South Island
with chromosome numbers of
n = 21. The first includes only
H.
cupressoides, which diverged early from most other hebes. The second
includes
H. salicornioides,
H. armstrongii,
and
H.
annulata. The third group of whipcord hebes is the largest, has
n =
20, and is subalpine-alpine. It consists of
H. tetragona and
H.
hectorii which occupy the wetter mountains along the axial ranges except
for a gap of 320 km in central Westland,
H. lycopodioides and
H.
imbricata which occupy drier South Island mountains, and
H.
propinqua which grows in the south-east of the South Island.
H.
ochracea from western Nelson appears to be an allopolyploid hybrid between
members of the second and third lineages. Based on these results, the following
new combinations are made:
Hebe hectorii subsp
. hectorii,
H.
hectorii subsp.
subsimilis,
H. hectorii subsp.
coarctata,
H. hectorii subsp.
laingii,
H. hectorii
subsp.
demissa,
H. hectorii subsp.
subulata;
H.
lycopodioides subsp.
lycopodioides,
H. lycopodioides subsp.
patula;
H. imbricata subsp.
imbricata,
H. imbricata
subsp.
poppelwellii.
Keywords Hebe; whipcord hebes; new combinations;
morphology; chromosome numbers; DNA sequences; distribution; ecology;
conservation status
B97084
Received 17 November 1997; accepted 9 July 1998
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