Does the Arcto-Tertiary biogeographic hypothesis explain the disjunct distribution of Northern Hemisphere herbaceous plants? The case of Meehania (Lamiaceae).

ABSTRACT: Despite considerable progress, many details regarding the evolution of the Arcto-Tertiary flora, including the timing, direction, and relative importance of migration routes in the evolution of woody and herbaceous taxa of the Northern Hemisphere, remain poorly understood. Meehania (Lamiaceae) comprises seven species and five subspecies of annual or perennial herbs, and is one of the few Lamiaceae genera known to have an exclusively disjunct distribution between eastern Asia and eastern North America. We analyzed the phylogeny and biogeographical history of Meehania to explore how the Arcto-Tertiary biogeographic hypothesis and two possible migration routes explain the disjunct distribution of Northern Hemisphere herbaceous plants. Parsimony and Bayesian inference were used for phylogeneti

SUBMITTER: Deng T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4319762 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature