Commentary: Speciation on a Local Geographic Scale in Mimulus

Erythranthe (Mimulus) filicifolia was recently recognized and formally described as a new species of sect. Simiola from Butte and Plumas counties in north-central California (Sexton et al. 2013; transferred to Erythranthe by Nesom 2013b). Sexton et al. compared the new species to E. laciniata, as both species have a Sierra Nevadan geographic range, generally similar habitats, and dissected leaves. A closely following companion study (Ferris et al. 2014) sought the evolutionary derivation of E. filicifolia among E. laciniata and two other species of sect. Simiola: E. guttata (in the broadest sense) and E. nasuta. Sequence data for 47 of the total 52 "M. guttatus" populations analyzed by Ferris et al. are from two previously published studies: Sweigart and Willis (2003) and Modliszewski and Willis (2012). The M&W study dealt primarily with annuals, but some perennials were represented (Jen Modliszewski, pers. comm.) –– which durations might be included in the Ferris et al. analysis is not explicit and apparently impossible for a reader to determine. Only perennials were represented in the CYCA locus study by Ferris et al. (Jen Modliszewski, pers. comm.) –– four of these samples (DUN, LMC, PTR, SIM, as inferred from the S&W data) represent the perennial species E. grandis; the rest presumably are E. guttata in the strict sense (i.e., rhizomatous, perennial).