EVOLUTION OF THE SAGES (SALVIA; LAMIACEAE)
With ca. 1,000 species, Salvia is one of the largest genera of flowering plants and the largest genus in the mint family (Lamiaceae). It contains 11 subgenera, each of which show more or less highly geographically structured ranges. The androecium of the order Lamiales has been variously modified to varying degrees of complexity, including stamen reduction and fusion. Perhaps the most prominent floral feature of Salvia is the staminal lever: a modification of the stamens through a multi-step process, which includes stamen reduction and elongation of the connective tissue between the anther thecae. This staminal lever and its various modifications are though to be a "key innovation" responsible for the diversification of the genus.
My colleagues and I are attempting to understand the diversification of the genus in multiple ways, including investigating phylogenomic evidence for hybridization, geometric morphometrics to quantify and reconstruct ancestral floral traits, ancestral state reconstructions of biomes, and spatial phylogenetics and quantitative biogeography to understand pylogenetic partitioning and reproductive isolation at regional scales. Images at left: Salvia taraxacifolia with a floral dissection showing the modified stamens.
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Ongoing projects on Salvia are focused on the California Sages (Salvia subgenus Audibertia) and include:
Contact Me
Jeff Rose Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison 430 Lincoln Dr. Madison, WI, 53706 jeffrey.p.rose.3[at]gmail[dot]com |
Phylogeny of Salvia based on 114 nuclear genes. Node pies show fraction of support across genes.
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