Book Description

Past taxonomic treatments of the genus Malacothamnus (Malvaceae) are inconsistent with between 11 and 28 taxa recognized. Many taxa that are not recognized in recent treatments are narrowly endemic and of conservation concern, which makes resolving taxonomic questions in the genus a conservation priority. As a first step in resolving these questions, I used morphological analyses to assess specimens representing the full range of morphological variation in the genus throughout its entire geographic range, which is presented in Volume 1 of this monograph. These analyses resulted in 38 morphologically and geographically cohesive groups that have varying levels of distinctness. In Volume 2 of this monograph, 36 of the 38 morphological groups are further assessed in a phylogenetic framework using a restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) dataset. Samples were analyzed using maximum likelihood analysis, quartets-based species tree analysis, neighbor-net analysis, and multidimensional scaling. Resulting clades generally correspond with morphological groups and relationships between clades correspond as much to geographic patterns as morphological patterns. Sixteen of the 38 morphological groups formed well supported clades, with three additional well supported clades containing multiple morphological groups. Lower support and inconsistency between some clades and morphological groups indicates possible gene flow or incomplete lineage sorting between morphological groups in some regions and identifies focal areas for future research. Taxonomic changes with a discussion of evidence for such changes are made in this volume. Based on the combination of morphologic, phylogenetic, and geographic evidence, I recognize 29 minimum rank taxa within 21 Malacothamnus species. Of these, 15 are currently listed as taxa of conservation concern, nine of which were not recognized in the recent Flora of North America treatment. Three new species are described: Malacothamnus astrotentaculatus, Malacothamnus eastwoodiae, and Malacothamnus discombobulatus. Taxonomic changes include two new combinations and two changes of rank resulting in the following new names: Malacothamnus arcuatus var. elmeri, Malacothamnus fremontii var. exfibulosus, Malacothamnus jonesii var. gracilis, and Malacothamnus jonesii var. niveus. A new treatment of Malacothamnus following the resulting taxonomy of Volume 2 is presented in Volume 3.