Phylogenetics of the "Tiger-flower" Group (Tigridieae: Iridaceae): Molecular and Morphological Evidence

The phylogenetic relationships among 23 species of the tribe Tigridieae (lridaceae) were inferred using morphological data and nucleotide sequences from nuclear ITS and three intergenic spacers of the cpDNA: psbA-trnH, trnT-trnL, and trnL-trnE Although all data sets supported a monophyletic Mexican-Guatemalan Tigridiinae including two taxa usually placed in Cipurinae ( Cardiostigma longispatha and Nemastylis convoluta), neither morphology, cpDNA, nor ITS resolved phylogenetic relationships within this lineage. A graphical tree of trees analysis showed the cladograms derived from morphology to be the most topologically distinct within the set of all trees examined and to be the set with most divergent trees. Finally, cladistic analysis of the combined data sets supported the recurrent dispersal of Cipurinae from South to North America and a South American origin of the Mexican-Guatemalan subtribe Tigridiinae.