Molecular phylogenetic analyses reveal multiple long-distance dispersal events and extensive cryptic speciation in <i>Nervilia</i> (Orchidaceae), an isolated basal Epidendroid genus.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The terrestrial orchid genus Nervilia is diagnosed by its hysteranthous pattern of emergence but is nested among leafless myco-heterotrophic lineages in the lower Epidendroideae. Comprising ca. 80 species distributed across Africa, Asia and Oceania, the genus remains poorly known and plagued by vague and overlapping species circumscriptions, especially within each of a series of taxonomically intractable species complexes. Prior small-scale, exploratory molecular phylogenetic analyses have revealed the existence of cryptic species, but little is otherwise understood of origin, the scale and timing of its biogeographic spread, or the palaeoclimatic factors that have shaped its ecology and given rise to contemporary patterns of occurrence.

Methods

Here, we

SUBMITTER: Gale SW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11883896 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature