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New Sarracenia Family Tree Research, from UGA and ABG

Some of the folks I work with have finally published their research on the Sarracenia family tree. I have been holding off on sharing details on this research forever and can't contain my excitement any longer!

I know almost all of the authors personally (folks from UGA and the Atlanta Botanical Garden), and can attest that you couldn't ask for a more dedicated group of people to do this research. The paper represents years of work, culminating in likely the best resolution of the tree in 30 years. Most of it's in foreign science language, but this paper will be the standard for taxonomy and conservation efforts for some time.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790315000330
 
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I saw this the other day. I always figured that S.oreophila was much more closely related to S.flava than indicated in that abstract. Where some the other species fit in with each other is interesting as well. Thanks for sharing this Kevin.
 
Interesting stuff...

Am I looking at this correctly?
- S. flava is more closely related to S. psittacina than to S. oreophila?
- S. alabamensis is more closely related to S. leucophylla than to the others in the rubra complex?
 
Interesting that Darlingtonia is at the base. An previous study put Heliamphora at the base with evidence that seemed to indicate there were two "migrations" that resulted in Darlingtonia and Sarracenia.

Wrong! See my post below.
 
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Interesting stuff...

Am I looking at this correctly?
- S. flava is more closely related to S. psittacina than to S. oreophila?
- S. alabamensis is more closely related to S. leucophylla than to the others in the rubra complex?

You are correct. All of this is based on molecular work rather than morphological features.

If you have seen the fenestrations in a mature S. alabamensis, you pick up on the relationship instantaneously... I saw my first mature S. alabamensis at ABG this year and was blown away by the resemblance.

What's even crazier is that it suggests that S. alata needs to exist within the S. rubra complex rather than as a separate species.

And additionally, S. purpurea ssp venosa var montana is closest to the base of the S. purpurea tree and most resembles the "ancestral" S. purpurea. To me, the study is suggesting that due to the genetic separateness of S. purpurea ssp venosa var montana, combined with the rarity of the populations and habitats (mountain bogs), we need to prioritize conservation efforts more than we already do (in GA at least). The paper mentions that it is already a candidate to federally list, and I think the study supports that. So, for the folks that have S. purpurea ssp venosa var montana, spread it into cultivation at all costs.

And the best part to me is that S. oreophila, S. jonesii, and S. alabamensis all come out separately, so current conservation efforts are 100% warranted and scientifically supported!!!
 
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Already working on anew taxonomy based on this study and in-situ observations.
 
Also interesting is that the two gulf coast varieties of flavas are grouped differently then other flavas.
 
Koalie they're not grouped differently, they're grouped within S. flava.
 
Could you please kneecap whoever decided to use a fluorescent yellow in there. I assume by deduction that the yellow one is alata.
 
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Already working on anew taxonomy based on this study and in-situ observations.

Jess mentioned today that you'd gotten in touch--great! Consider stopping by Athens at some point during your next voyage down south and we'll connect the dots in person.
 
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Yes, the yellow is alata. Here's the more eye-friendly version.

1-s2.0-S1055790315000330-gr1.jpg
 
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I was wrong. The 2012 Ellison paper has Darlingtonia at the base:
journalpone0039291g003_zpse560211c.png


Phylogeny and Biogeography of the Carnivorous Plant Family Sarraceniaceae
Authors: Aaron M. Ellison , Elena D. Butler, Emily Jean Hicks, Robert F. C. Naczi, Patrick J. Calie, Charles D. Bell,Charles C. Davis

The thing with genetic studies is a lot depends on the genes or markers chosen to study and the algorithms used to analyze clustering or relatedness.
 
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