Life Sciences Commons^™

Diversity And Evolution Of Seedling Baupläne In Perlargonium (Geraniaceae), Cynthia S. Jones, Robert A. Price

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

The genus Pelargonium (Geraniaceae) exhibits tremendous variation in growth form. We apply a broadly defined concept of Bauplan in our study of growth form, architectural and anatomical features of early seedling development in the type subgenus. We analyze variation in these features within a phylogenetic framework based on sequence comparisons of internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA.

Preliminary ITS sequence comparisons show strong support for two major clades. One major clade contains two subgroups, one consisting of three previously recognized sections of more or less woody shrubs and subshrubs (sections Pelargonium, Glaucophyllum and Campylia), and …