Temperate Eurasian origins of Hawaiian Chenopodium (Amaranthaceae), plus description of a new subspecies endemic to Moloka‘i


SOCIETY FOR INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
2021 VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING (VAM)
January 3 – Febuary 28, 2021

Meeting Abstract


48-4  Fri Feb 26 13:45 – 14:00  Temperate Eurasian origins of Hawaiian Chenopodium (Amaranthaceae), plus description of a new subspecies endemic to Moloka‘i Cantley, JT*; McDonnell, AJ; Branson, J; Kobara, JR; Long, S; Garnett, W; Martine, CT; San Francisco State University; Chicago Botanical Garden; San Francisco State University; San Francisco State University; Bucknell University; Wiliwili Native Plants; Bucknell University cantley@sfsu.edu

Hawaiian taxa of Chenopodium are tetraploids and are distinguished from other members of the circumglobally distributed genus byminute morphological characters. Because of these reasons, the geographic origin of Hawaiian Chenopodium has remained unclear. Across the Hawaiian Archipelago, taxa of Chenopodium are morphologically variable and grow in highly disparate xeric habitats, especially in terms of precipitation, temperature, wind, salt spray, and solar irradiation. Habitats include dry subalpine shrublands, sandy beach strands on atolls in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, dry to mesic forests, and precipitously tall sea cliffs of northwestern Moloka‘i. From the Moloka‘i sea cliffs, we describe C. oahuense subspecies ilioensis as segregated from the widespread Hawaiian C. oahuense sensu lato. Morphometric analyses distinguish C. oahuense subsp. ilioensis by its strongly prostrate to scandent habit, thick succulent leaves, smaller average leaf size, limited lobing of the laminar margins, and smaller seeds. Phylogenetic analyses using two DNA regions (the plastid gene rpl32-trnL and nuclear ITS) of newly sequenced individuals of C. oahuense s. l. and C. oahuense subsp. ilioensis plus outgroup taxa support the monophyly of Hawaiian Chenopodium and reveal a geographic origin of temperate Eurasia. Two equivocal hypothetical scenarios are discussed regarding the likely sequence of events leading to the arrival of Chenopodium in Hawaiian Islands followed by possible in situ speciation of the Moloka‘i endemic C. oahuense subsp. ilioensis. This presentation will include an update of ongoing physiological and genomic projects.

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