A nearly 30-years living collection from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is a new species: a case study ofBetula mcallisteriisp. nov. (sect.Acuminatae, Betulaceae) and its little hybridization withBetula luminifera

Abstract

SummarySpecies description meets challenges arising from various species concepts. Integrating different sources of information and multiple lines of evidence are important for species recognition and discovery.Here we use morphology, restriction site-associated DNA sequencing and flow cytometry to study the species status of the unidentifiedBetulasamples collected in this study and to assess the extent of hybridization between the unidentifiedBetulasamples andB. luminiferain natural populations.Molecular analyses show the unidentifiedBetulasamples as a distinct lineage and reveal very little genetic admixture between the unidentified samples andB. luminifera. Unexpectedly, the unidentified samples formed a well-supported monophyletic clade with the living collection ofB. luminifera19933472 in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh which was introduced from Southwest China. Flow cytometry shows that the unidentified samples andB. luminifera19933472 are diploid.Our data indicates thatB. luminifera19933472 and the unidentifiedBetulasamples should be recognized as a new species, namelyB. mcallisterii. The very little introgression betweenB. mcallisteriiandB. luminiferaindicates a strong reproductive barrier. Our research shows the importance of gathering information from wild populations and the value of an integrative approach in species discovery.Societal Impact StatementA comprehensive survey of plant species from natural populations can aid greatly in taxonomy and species delimitation. Here, we discovered a new birch species from the wild and unexpectedly found that this species has been introduced to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh for nearly 30 years. We found very little introgression between the new species and its closely-related species. Our study highlighted the importance in integrating sources of information from natural populations and botanic gardens for species discovery.