A taxonomic backbone for the Plumbaginaceae (Caryophyllales).

A taxonomic backbone of the Plumbaginaceae is presented and the current state of knowledge on phylogenetic relationships and taxon limits is reviewed as a basis for the accepted taxon concepts. In total, 4,476 scientific names and designations are treated of which 30 are not in the family Plumbaginaceae. The Plumbaginaceae are subdivided in three tribes with 26 genera and 1,179 accepted species.

Nomenclatural Type Identification of Names in North African ().

is native to Eurasia plus the northern and southern territories of Africa, with some species being introduced into America and Oceania. They are usually found in arid, desertic, or subdesertic areas, often on saline or subsaline soils, in Mediterranean, temperate, or subtropical climates. The genus is renowned for its complex taxonomy, which is usually based on rather variable or unstable characters, which leads to contrasting taxonomic treatments.

(): Validation and Recircumscription of a Misinterpreted Species from South Africa.

The name " Simon" has been misapplied to an endemic taxon confined to inland semidesert ecosystems in central-western South Africa. It is commonly accepted as a small annual species occurring in saline habitats in a wide elevation range, but its identity still remains obscure. In the context of taxonomic and phylogenetic research on the African species of , we found that the name was never validly published.

Diversification of Biscutella ser. Biscutella (Brassicaceae) followed post-Miocene geologic and climatic changes in the Mediterranean basin.

Biscutella ser. Biscutella (= ser. Lyratae Malin.

At least 23 genera instead of one: the case of Iris L. s.l. (Iridaceae).

Background: Iris L. s.l.

Out of Africa: Miocene dispersal, vicariance, and extinction within Hyacinthaceae subfamily Urgineoideae.

Disjunct distribution patterns in plant lineages are usually explained according to three hypotheses: vicariance, geodispersal, and long-distance dispersal. The role of these hypotheses is tested in Urgineoideae (Hyacinthaceae), a subfamily disjunctly distributed in Africa, Madagascar, India, and the Mediterranean region. The potential ancestral range, dispersal routes, and factors responsible for the current distribution in Urgineoideae are investigated using divergence time estimations.

The identity of Albuca caudata Jacq. (Hyacinthaceae) and a description of a new related species: A. bakeri.

The name Albuca caudata Jacq. has been widely misunderstood or even ignored since its description in 1791. After studying herbarium specimens and living populations in South Africa, plants fitting Jacquin´s concept of that species are found to be widely distributed in the Eastern Cape, mainly in the Albany centre of Endemism.

Molecular phylogenetics of subfamily Ornithogaloideae (Hyacinthaceae) based on nuclear and plastid DNA regions, including a new taxonomic arrangement.

Background And Aims: The taxonomic arrangement within subfamily Ornithogaloideae (Hyacinthaceae) has been a matter of controversy in recent decades: several new taxonomic treatments have been proposed, based exclusively on plastid DNA sequences, and these have resulted in classifications which are to a great extent contradictory. Some authors have recognized only a single genus Ornithogalum for the whole subfamily, including 250-300 species of variable morphology, whereas others have recognized many genera. In the latter case, the genera are inevitably much smaller and they are better defined morphologically.

Molecular phylogenetics of Limonium and related genera (Plumbaginaceae): biogeographical and systematic implications.

Phylogenetic relationships within Limonium (Plumbaginaceae) are evaluated using sequence data from three plastid regions (rbcL, the trnL intron, and the trnL-trnF intergenic spacer). Sixty-six species representing the major genera of Staticoideae, including representatives of all sections and genera formerly included in Limonium, have been analyzed using four species of Plumbaginoideae as an outgroup. Analyses of each separate and combined data set yield similar results.