Phylogenetic relationships and generic realignments in the early diverging subtribe P entziinae ( A steraceae, A nthemideae)

Pentziinae are a subtribe of tribe A nthemideae ( A steraceae), comprising seven almost exclusively southern A frican endemic genera and c . 60 species. Generic delimitations and relationships in the subtribe are explored using parsimony and B ayesian analyses of nuclear (internal transcribed spacer, ITS ) and plastid ( ndhF , psbA ‐ trnH , trnK ‐ rps16 and rpl32 ‐ trnL ) DNA regions, with morphological and fruit anatomical studies. Phylogenetic analyses for 72 accessions (43 species) representing 72% of the subtribe indicate that several of the genera are not monophyletic as currently circumscribed. P entzia tortuosa differs from its congeners in its inconspicuously three‐ribbed fruits and in several other distinctive morphological characters. In the phylogenetic trees based on the nuclear dataset, P . tortuosa is recovered in the perennial clade with its congeners, but in the plastid data set, it is strongly placed among the early diverging lineages comprising annual taxa with three‐ribbed fruits. Even with the exclusion of P . tortuosa , P entzia remains paraphyletic by the inclusion of at least Rennera and possibly also C ymbopappus and M arasmodes . A possible sister relationship between M arasmodes and P entzia , however, cannot be excluded. The four R ennera specise are therefore here transferred to Pentzia , whereas M arasmodes and C ymbopappus are retained pending further investigation. Among the annual lineages, Foveolina is also found to be polyphyletic, with F . dichotoma (the type species) and F . tenella clearly allied with O ncosiphon , and the anomolous species, F . burchellii , recovered with M yxopappus in the nuclear trees. Both M yxopappus species share the disciform capitula and heteromorphic fruits with F oveolina burchellii (characters previously overlooked in M yxopappus and reported here for the first time). © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2015, 178 , 633–647.