Ixeridium sagittarioides (Asteraceae-Cichorieae) revisited: range extension and molecular evidence for its systematic position in the Lactuca alliance

Abstract

Our first record of the rare and scatteredly distributed Ixeridium sagittarioides for Guizhou, China, triggered a study to assess its systematic position. The species was placed in four different genera in the course of its taxonomic history and was recently treated with doubts as a member of Ixeridium in the Flora of China. Comparative morphological investigation and phylogenetic analyses based on the nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (nrITS) and five non-coding plastid DNA regions (petD region, psbA-trnH, trnL-trnF, rpl32-trnL (UAG) and 5´rps16-trnQ (UUG) spacers) provided evidence that the species is not a member of Ixeridium and the Crepidinae but has evolved by ancient hybridisation of members of the Lactuca alliance (Lactucinae). It is reinstated as Lactuca sagittarioides and a comprehensive morphological description is provided, based on material from its entire range of distribution.