Plant Syst. Evol. 246: 89–107 (2004) DOI 10.1007/s00606-004-0128-0 Carex, subgenus Carex (Cyperaceae) – A phylogenetic approach using ITS sequences M. Hendrichs, F. Oberwinkler, D. Begerow, and R. Bauer Universität Tübingen, Botanisches Institut, Lehrstuhl Spezielle Botanik und Mykologie, Tübingen, Germany Received August 6, 2003; accepted December 5, 2003 Published online: March 26, 2004 Ó Springer-Verlag 2004 Abstract. To evaluate the sectional classification in Carex, subgenus Carex, the ITS region of 117 species belonging to 32 sections was analyzed with Neighbor Joining (NJ) and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. In our analyses (1) species of subgenus Indocarex appear as a statistically well supported group within subgenus Carex. (2) The representatives of sections Vesicariae, Hirtae, Pseudocypereae, Ceratocystis, Spirostachyae, Bicolores, Paniceae, Trachychlaenae, Scirpinae, Atratae and Albae group in statistically supported clades with higher support in MCMC than in NJ. (3) C. rariflora clusters with representatives of section Limosae, however only weakly supported. (4) Taxa of section Phacocystis are divided in two statistically supported subclusters that are closely related to a core group of section Hymenochlaenae. (5) Species of sections Montanae, Pachystylae, Digitatae, Phacocystis, Rhomboidales, Careyanae and Frigidae are segregated into two or more clusters each. (6) Five species of section Frigidae cluster together, whereas the seven others are in scattered positions. Based on these results, delimitation of sections is discussed. Key words: Bayesian analysis, Carex, ITS, molecular phylogeny, systematics. The genus Carex L. is widespread mainly in the northern hemisphere with approximately 2000 species (Reznicek 1990). In a worldwide taxonomic survey of the genus Kükenthal (1909) confirmed the subdivision of the genus Carex into the subgenera (Eu-)Carex, Indocarex, Vignea and Primocarex. Subgenus Carex comprises some three quarters of the species (Kükenthal 1909, Mackenzie 1931–1935, Chater 1980, Ball 1990). They have a worldwide distribution, with most of them occuring in the northern hemisphere. The inclusion of subgenus Indocarex, often assumed as not clearly separable from subgenus Carex (Koyama 1962, Reznicek 1990), would considerably enlarge the geographic distribution of subgenus Carex to the subtropics and tropics of East Asia and Central America. Kükenthal (1909) distinguished 48 sections and subsections within subgenus Carex. Since then, many additional species have been described but no new classification on a worldwide scale has been proposed. Recent molecular phylogenetic studies in Cyperaceae using the rbcL gene (Muasya et al. 1998), chloroplast DNA sequences (Yen and Olmstead 2000), and ITS data (Roalson et al. 2001, Starr et al. 1999, Waterway and Olmstead 1998) have given new insight in the relationships between the 90 M. Hendrichs et al.: Carex, subgenus Carex (Cyperaceae) genera of Cariceae. Mainly species of section Acrocystis have been analyzed by Roalson et al. (2001). That study focused on the North American species and has shown the potential of the ITS region for phylogenetic interpretations on sectional level. We studied 62 species mainly from northern Europe; furthermore, sequences of 55 species derived from GenBank were included in this work (see Table 1). Thus, our molecular analyses comprise 117 species of 32 sections in total. Section delimitations will be discussed in detail and compared with the classical concept proposed by Kükenthal (1909). Materials and methods Plant collection and DNA extraction. The analyzed Carex species are listed in Table 1. Assignment of sections and subsections corresponds mainly to the concept of Kükenthal (1909). Total genomic DNA was isolated from fresh or dried leaf tissue either by crushing the plant material in liquid nitrogen or by shaking the samples for 3 min at 30 Hz (Mixer Mill MM 300, Retsch, Haan, Germany). DNeasy Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) was used following the manufacturer’s protocol. PCR and sequencing. The ITS region (about 700 bp) localized between the 18S and the 28S rRNA genes, was amplified with the primer pair ITSL (Hsiao et al. 1995) or ITS5, respectively, and ITS4 (White et al. 1990). Amplification parameters were as described in Starr et al. (1999). We adjusted the annealing temperature to 54 °C for ITS5 and 51 °C for ITSL, the annealing time to 55 s, and the extension time to 3 min. The product was purified with QIAquick PCR Purification Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). The dsDNA obtained was sequenced directly on both strands using the ABI PRISM Big DyeTM Terminator Cycle Sequencing Ready Reaction Kit (PE Applied Biosystems) on an automated sequencer (ABI 373A, PE Applied Biosystems). The sequences of both strands were combined and proof read with SequencherTM 4.1 software (Gene Codes Corp., Michigan). All sequences reported in this study have been deposited in GenBank (see Table 1). The alignment contained 638 nucleotide sites. After removing ambiguously aligned positions (221–237, 416–436, 588–595), 592 sites remained for analyses with 246 variable sites (ITS1: 141, 5.8S: 6, ITS2: 99). The ingroup alone contained 238 variable sites. The alignment is available upon request. Phylogenetic analysis. DNA sequences were aligned using Clustal X (Jeanmougin et al. 1998). Some manual corrections were done in Se-Al v2.0a7b (Rambaut 2001) to improve ambiguously aligned positions. The likelihood ratio test as implemented in Modeltest 3.0 (Posada and Crandall 1998) selected GTR + I + G (Swofford et al. 1996) as DNA substitution model (details below). A Bayesian method of phylogenetic inference using a Metropolis-coupled Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach was carried out as implemented in the program MrBayes (Huelsenbeck and Ronquist 2001) with GTR + I + G as substitution model. Four incrementally heated simultaneous Monte Carlo Markov chains were run over 2 000 000 generations. Trees were sampled every 100th generation, resulting in an overall sampling of 20 000 trees. To obtain estimates for the a posteriori probabilities, a 50% majority rule consensus tree was computed from the trees sampled after the process had reached stationarity (burnin ¼ 2000). This Bayesian approach of phylogenetic analysis was repeated eight times, always using random starting trees and random starting values for the model parameters to test the reproducibility of the results. Branch lengths were estimated under the maximum likelihood criterion and the same substitution model in PAUP 4.0b10 (Swofford 2002). Neighbor joining analysis (Saitou and Nei 1987) was done with PAUP 4.0b10 (Swofford 2002) using genetic distances according to GTR + I + G as substitution model with the following settings: base frequencies A ¼ 0.154109, C ¼ 0.307645, G ¼ 0.366090, T ¼ 0.172156; rate matrix AC ¼ 1.11373, AG ¼ 3.97984, AT ¼ 0.93190, CG ¼ 0.32777, CT ¼ 6.41726, GT ¼ 1.00000; proportion of invariant nucleotide sites ¼ 0.495368 and gamma distribution shape parameter ¼ 0.729428. Support for internal nodes was estimated by 1000 neighbor joining bootstrap replicates under the same model settings. The unrooted phylograms from neighbor joining and MCMC analyses were rooted with three Carex species of subgenus Vignea that clustered together with high bootstrap support. M. Hendrichs et al.: Carex, subgenus Carex (Cyperaceae) 91 Table 1. Species analyzed in this study Species C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. acuta L. acutiformis Ehrh.a acutiformisb alba Scop. alma Bailey angarae Steud. angustata Boott antoniensis A. Chev. C. aquatilis Wahlenb.a C. aquatilisb C. atrata L. C. atrofusca Schkuhr C. aurea Nutt. C. austroalpina Becherer C. bella Bailey C. bicolor All. C. bigelowii Torr. ex Schwein. C. brachystachys Schrank (& Moll) C. brevicollis DC. C. brunnea Thunb. C. buxbaumii Wahlenb. C. canescens L. C. capillaris L. Chromos. no. (2n)b (Phacocystis Dumort.) Paludosae Fries USSR, Siberia
78 Germany, FO 7501 USSR, Kazakh SSR
54 Switzerland, HMH 2857 USA, California
USSR, Magadan Oblast
66, 68 USA, Idaho
Cape Verde Islands, Santo Antao
72, 74, 76, Canada, Salt Plains, 79–80, 84 TUB Finland, HeRB 4634 54 Sweden, HMH 2758 36, 38, 40 Sweden, HMH 2652 AF284992 AY278300 AF284993 AY278259 AF285025 AF284980 AF285015 AF285041 52 40 USA, California
Italy, HeRB 4252 AF285062 AY278276 40 50, 52 USA, New Mexico
Switzerland, FO 11601 AF284966 AY278283 68, 70, 71 Finland, HeRB 4626 AY278303 40 AY278277 54 Spain, Pyrenees, HeRB 5336 USSR, Moldavian SSR
China, Guizhou
Germany, HMH 1896 USSR, Siberia
Sweden, HMH 2651 AF285011 AF285003 AY278262 AF284990 AY278256 44, 64? USA, Vermont
AF285058 28 52, 54, 56 Canada, Quebec
USA, Oregon
USA, Texas
AF284976 AF284965 AF285029 48 48, 50, 52 Germany, HeRB 2761 USA, North Carolina
Germany, WM 364 AY278307 AF285035 AY278267 68?, 70–72, Germany, HMH 1854 74 Mexico, Chiapas
54 Canada, British Columbia
74, 76 Germany, HeRB 4177 AY278312 Albae Asch. & Graebn. Multiflorae Kunth Atratae Kunth (Phacocystis Dumort.) (Pseudocypereae Tuck.) (Phacocystis Dumort.) Atratae Kunth Frigidae Fries, Fuliginosae Tuck. (Bicolores Tuck.) Frigidae Fries, Ferrugineae Tuck. Atratae Kunth Acutae Fries, Bicolores Tuck. (Phacocystis Dumort.) C. distans L. Frigidae Fries, Curvicolles Kük. Rhomboidales Kük. (Graciles Tuck.) Atratae Kunth Canescentes Fries (Capillares Asch. & Graebner) Hymenochlaenae Drejer, Longirostres Kük. Montanae Fries (Digitatae Fries) Hymenochlaenae Drejer, Debiles Carey (Ceratocystis Dumort.) Careyanae Tuck. Digitatae Fries, Eu-Digitatae Kük. Spirostachyae Drejer C. donnell-smithii Bailey C. eburnea Boott Fecundae Kük. Albae Asch. & Graebn. C. elata All. (Phacocystis Dumort.) C. castanea Wahlenb. C. communis Bailey C. concinnoides Mack. C. debilis Michx. C. demissa Hornem. C. digitalis Willd. C. digitata L. Locality/Voucherc Section and subsectiona 56 62 74, 106 GenBank accession no. AY278302 AY278301 AY278263 AY278313 AF285005 AF285000 AY278255 92 M. Hendrichs et al.: Carex, subgenus Carex (Cyperaceae) Table 1 (continued) Species Section and subsectiona Chromos. no. (2n)b Locality/Voucherc GenBank accession no. C. eleusinoides Turcz. (Phacocystis Dumort.) ca. 60, 84 AF285006 C. ericetorum Pollich C. exsiccata Bailey Montanae Fries Physocarpae Drejer, Vesicariae Tuck. Spirostachyae Drejer Paniceae Tuck. Frigidae Fries, Ferrugineae Tuck. Indicae Tuck., Gracilirostres Kük. Frigidae Fries, Ferrugineae Tuck. Trachychlaenae Drejer (Ceratocystis Dumort.) Frigidae Fries, Fuliginosae Tuck. Frigidae Fries, Fuliginosae Tuck. Scirpinae Tuck. Pachystylae Kük. Hymenochlaenae Drejer, Gracillimae Carey Pachystylae Kük. Hirtae Tuck. Trachychlaenae Drejer 30 40 USSR, Buryatskaya ASSR
Germany, HeRB 3929 Canada, British Columbia
Germany, HeRB 1557 USSR, Magadan Oblast
France, HMH 2082 AY278311 AF285016 AY278275 44, 48 China, Sichuan
AF284981 34 Germany, HMH 1180 AY278279 76, 90? 60, 62 56 Germany, HMH 2993 AY278274 Germany, HMH 1869 AY278310 Switzerland HeRB 6360 AY278291 40 Sweden, HMH 2729 58 USA, California
AF285027 USSR, Magadan Oblast
AF285049 USA, Vermont
AF285054 C. extensa Good. C. falcata Turcz. C. ferruginea Scop. C. filicina Nees C. firma Host C. flacca Schreb. C. flava L. C. frigida All. C. fuliginosa Schkuhr C. gigas (Holm) Mack. C. globularis L. C. gracillima Schwein. C. grioletii Roemer C. hirta L. C. hispida Willd. ex Schkuhr C. hostiana DC. C. humilis Leysser C. kitaibeliana Degen ex Becherer C. lanceolata Boott C. lasiocarpa Ehrh. C. laxiflora Lam. C. lemmonii Boott C. lepidocarpa Tausch C. leucodonta Holm C. limosa L. C. liparocarpos Gaudin C. lupulina Muehlenb. ex Willd. C. lurida Wahlenb. 60 50, 52, 54 AY278281 AF285055 AY278254 48 USSR, SFSR, Sochi
112, (114?) Germany, HMH 513 42 Italy, FO 9266 AF285048 AY278296 AY278272 (Ceratocystis Dumort.) Digitatae Fries, Eu-Digitatae Kük. (Frigidae Fries) 56 36 France, HMH 2140 Germany, WM 360 AY278309 AY278260 36 Bosnia, FO 16810 AY278258 Digitatae Fries, Eu-Digitatae Kük. Hirtae Tuck. 68–80 Japan, Kanagawa Pref.
AF285009 (56?), 76, 77 40? Sweden, HMH 2788 AY278297 64 38 56 USA, Texas
USA, California
Germany, HeRB 1511 USA, Arizona
Austria, FO 21960 Italy, HeRB 4258 USA, Texas
AF284964 AF284971 AY278293 AF284973 AY278298 AY278261 AF284963 64, 66 USA, North Carolina
AF284962 Careyanae Tuck. (Ferrugineae Tuck.) (Ceratocystis Dumort.) Montanae Fries Limosae Tuck. Lamprochlaenae Drejer Physocarpae Drejer, Lupulinae Tuck. Physocarpae Drejer, Tentaculatae Tuck. M. Hendrichs et al.: Carex, subgenus Carex (Cyperaceae) 93 Table 1 (continued) Species Section and subsectiona Frigidae Fries, Fuliginosae Tuck. C. mairii Cosson & Germ. Spirostachyae Drejer C. mandshurica Meinsh. Pachystylae Kük. Chromos. no. (2n)b C. luzulina Olney C. microdonta Torr. & Hook. C. mira Kük. C. montana L. C. mucronata All. C. nigra (L.) Reich. ssp. juncella C. norvegica Retz. ssp. media C. olbiensis Jordan C. ornithopoda Willd. Locality/Voucherc GenBank accession no. AY278252 (Granulares O. Lang) 64 USA, Washington, FO 30632 France, FO 9499b Korea, Kangwon Province
USA, Texas
Frigidae Fries, Mucronatae Nyman Montanae Fries Frigidae Fries, Mucronatae Nyman (Phacocystis Dumort.) 42 Korea, Kangwon Prov.
AF285046 38 36 Germany, HMH 1421 Italy, HMH 2240 AY278271 AY278257 84 Germany, FO 29072 AY278304 Atratae Kunth 56 Switzerland, HMH 3004 AY278264 46 54 Italy, FO 9331 Germany, HMH 2964 AY278282 AY278269 54, 56 Austria, HeRB 6362 AY278268 Careyanae Tuck. Digitatae Fries, Eu-Digitatae Kük. C. ornithopodioides Hausm. Digitatae Fries, Eu-Digitatae Kük. C. otrubae Podp. Stenorhynchae Holm C. oxyandra Kudo (Montanae Fries) C. pallescens L. Pachystylae Kük. C. panicea L. Paniceae Tuck. C. parviflora Host Atratae Kunth C. paupercula Michx. (Limosae Tuck.) C. pedunculata Muehlenb. Digitatae Fries, Eu-Digitatae Kük. C. pellita Willd. Hirtae Tuck. C. pennsylvanica Lam. Montanae Fries C. picta Steud. Digitatae Fries, Eu-Digitatae Kük. C. pilosa Scop. Rhomboidales Kük. C. pilulifera L. Montanae Fries C. polystachya Swartz Indicae Tuck., ex Wahlenb. Turgidulae Kük C. prasina Wahlenb. Hymenochlaenae Drejer, Gracillimae Carey C. pseudocyperus L. Pseudocypereae Tuck. C. rariflora (Wahlenb.) Sm. Limosae Tuck. C. raynoldsii Dew. Atratae Kunth C. rossii Boott Montanae Fries C. rostrata Stokes Physocarpae Drejer, Vesicariae Tuck. C. rugosperma Mack. Montanae Fries 68, 70 AY278253 AF285045 AF285052 USSR, Crimea
18, 20, 24 Japan
64, 66, 70? France, HMH 2105 32 Germany, HMH 1779 54 Switzerland, HeRB 6361 58, 60 Finland, HeRB 4652 26 USA, Michigan
AF284996 AF285061 AY278299 AY278284 AY278265 AY278292 AF284969 78, 81, 82 36 32 USA, California
USA, Michigan
USA, Alabama
AF285031 AF284977 AF285020 44 18 Germany, HeRB 4598 AY278286 Denmark, HMH 1934 AY278280 Brazil, Federal District
AF285014 USA, North Carolina
AF285043 66 52, 54 58 36 60?, 76 Germany, HMH 2991 Norway, HeRB 6359 USA, Idaho, FO 30938 USA, Oregon
Germany, HMH 1827 AY278295 AY278305 AY278266 AF284972 AY278294 32? USA, Pennsylvania
AF284978 94 M. Hendrichs et al.: Carex, subgenus Carex (Cyperaceae) Table 1 (continued) Species Section and subsectiona Chromos. no. (2n)b Locality/Voucherc GenBank accession no. C. saxatilis L. Physocarpae Drejer, Vesicariae Tuck. (Phacocystis Dumort.) Scirpinae Tuck. 80 Sweden, HMH 2574 AY278288 62, 64, 68 USA, California
USA, Utah
AF285037 AF285050 (Phacocystis Dumort.) 72, 76, 80 USA, Oregon
AF285059 Germany, HMH 1156 AY278278 Italy, FO 32901 USA, California
Germany, WM 2015 AY278273 AF285040 AY278306 58 66 Germany, HMH 1777 USSR, Kazakhstan
USA, Wyoming
Germany, HMH 2253 AY278287 AF285047 AF285051 AY278270 60 USSR, Siberia
AF285042 30, 32 82, 86 Sweden, HMH 2684 Germany, HMH 1782 AY278285 AY278289 ca. 72 Canada, NWT, TUB AY278308 Switzerland, HMH 1856 AY278290 Japan, Shizuoka Pref.
AF285023 C. schottii Dew. C. scirpoidea Michx. ssp. scirpoidea C. scopulorum Holm var. bracteosa C. sempervirens Vill. C. serrulata Biv. C. spissa Bailey C. sylvatica Huds. C. C. C. C. tomentosa L.a tomentosab torreyi Tuck. umbrosa Hosta C. umbrosab ssp. sabynensis C. vaginata Tausch C. vesicaria L. C. viridula Michx.a C. viridulab C. wahuensis C. A. Mey. ssp. robusta C. whitneyi Olney C. wiluica Meinsh. ex Maack Frigidae Fries, 30, 32, 34 Ferrugineae Tuck. (Trachychlaenae Drejer) Trachychlaenae Drejer Hymenochlaenae Drejer, 58 Longirostres Kük. Pachystylae Kük. 48 Pachystylae Kük. Mitratae Kük., Eu-Mitratae Kük. Paniceae Tuck. Physocarpae Drejer, Vesicariae Tuck. (Ceratocystis Dumort.) Rhomboidales Kük. 48? 62 Hymenochlaenae Drejer, Pubescentes Kük. (Phacocystis Dumort.) ca. 50 USA, Nevada
AF285053 USSR, Siberia
AF285010 Origin of sequence: Roalson et al. 2001 Sections and subsections mainly follow the concept of Kükenthal (1909); others in brackets b Chromosome counts compiled from original literature (Cayouette and Morisset 1986; Crins and Ball 1988; Davies 1956; Dietrich 1964, 1967, 1972; Dunlop 1997; Dunlop and Crow 1999; Faulkner 1972, 1973; Favarger 1965; Halkka et al. 1992; Heilborn 1922, 1924, 1928, 1939; Jörgensen et al. 1958; Kjellqvist and Löve 1963; Löve and Löve 1981, 1982; Löve et al. 1957; Löve and Solbrig 1964; Luceño 1993; Martens 1939; McClintock and Waterway 1994; Moore and Calder 1964; Murı́n and Májovsky 1976; Naczi 1999; Nishikawa et al. 1984; Reese 1953; Schmid 1983; Standley 1985; Tanaka 1942a, 1942b, 1949; Wahl 1940; Whitkus 1981) or fide Chater (1980), Roalson et al. (2001) and FNA (2002) c Acronyms of herbaria and collections: HeRB: R. Berndt (private collection); HMH: M. Hendrichs (private collection) FO: F. Oberwinkler (private collection); WM: W. Maier (private collection); TUB: Herbarium Tubingense
a Results The different runs of the performed Bayesian phylogenetic analysis yielded consistent results. Stationarity of the Markov chains was reached after approximately 200 000 generations of trees, i.e. after 2000 trees had been M. Hendrichs et al.: Carex, subgenus Carex (Cyperaceae) sampled. Thus, we discarded the first 2000 trees and included 18 000 sampled trees in the 50% majority rule consensus tree of each run. One of these is given in Fig. 1. The phylogram obtained by the NJ analysis is shown in Fig. 2. Our analyses include 117 species belonging to 32 sections in subgenus Carex (see Table 1), in which the sections Capillares, Graciles, Granulares, Fecundae, Lamprochlaenae, Mitratae and Paludosae, are represented by one species only. In general, the tree topology of the MCMC analysis correlates with that of the NJ analysis (compare Fig. 1 with Fig. 2). Rooted with three species of subgenus Vignea, the members of subgenus Carex appear as a highly supported lineage. Furthermore, in both analyses the supported sectional clusters contain the same representatives. Thus, in both analyses the representatives of subgenus Indocarex appear as a statistically well supported group within subgenus Carex. The representatives of sections Vesicariae, Hirtae, Pseudocypereae, Ceratocystis, Spirostachyae, Bicolores, Paniceae, Trachychlaenae, Scirpinae, Atratae and Albae form statistically supported clades. C. rariflora clusters together with the other representatives of section Limosae, however only weakly supported. In general, statistical support for these groups is higher in the MCMC topology than in the NJ topology. In both analyses the representatives of sections Montanae, Pachystylae, Digitatae, Phacocystis, Rhomboidales, Careyanae and Frigidae fall into two or more clusters. Furthermore, in both analyses five species of section Frigidae cluster together paraphyletically, referred to as section Ferrugineae in our dendrograms. Seven other representatives of section Frigidae included in our analyses are scattered throughout the trees. In both analyses the representatives of section Phacocystis fall into two statistically supported subclusters. They are closely related to a core group of section Hymenochlaenae. While the ITS region is useful in defining sections within subgenus Carex, this region does not provide enough phylogenetic 95 information to fully resolve relationships among sections in subgenus Carex. A tendency towards lower chromosome numbers in more derived groups (Roalson et al. 2001) is not supported by our analyses (see below). Chromosome numbers of the species studied are listed in Table 1, giving the chromosome counts available in literature. Discussion The discussion of the sections mainly follows their order of appearance in Fig. 1. Section Vesicariae is represented in our analyses by four species. The three-stigmatic C. vesicaria and C. rostrata are very common in Central Europe. Both are adapted to wet habitats, the latter probably with a preference to acid soil conditions. C. saxatilis, very common in Northern European tundra vegetation, usually has two stigmas, rarely three. These taxa cluster together with the threestigmatic C. exsiccata, which is adapted to the same wet and marshy habitats in pacific North America. Species delimitation causes considerable difficulties in this group. C. saxatilis was treated as a subspecies of C. vesicaria by Kükenthal (1909), but was also regarded as a distinct species (e.g. Mackenzie 1931–1935, Chater 1980, Reznicek and Ford 2002). C. exsiccata was interpreted as variety of C. vesicaria by several authors (e.g. Boott 1867, Kükenthal 1909) but also as a separate species (e.g. Bailey 1889, Mackenzie 1931–1935, Reznicek and Ford 2002). Our ITS data can contribute to the understanding of the species concept by basepair(bp)-differences. C. vesicaria and C. rostrata differ in three bp over the total length of 638 bp, the difference between C. vesicaria and C. saxatilis is only one bp. C. exsiccata differs from C. vesicaria and C. rostrata in four bp. Therefore it can be concluded that C. exsiccata is separate from C. vesicaria as well as C. rostrata. A very close relationship of C. saxatilis and C. vesicaria has to be assumed, although our specimens are morphologically easily distinguishable: C. saxatilis has more compact and very dark 96 M. Hendrichs et al.: Carex, subgenus Carex (Cyperaceae) C. saxatilis C. exsiccata C. vesicaria C. rostrata 84 63 C. pellita C. lasiocarpa C. lupulina C. lurida 100 C. pseudocyperus 84 C. antoniensis 100 C. paupercula 76 C. limosa 54 C. rariflora C. donnell-smithii 52 C. prasina 100 C. aquatilis b C. aquatilisa 64 87 C. angustata C. schottii 98 C. elata C. bigelowii 51 C. scopulorum 92 C. debilis 75 C. gracillima 86 81 C. castanea C. whitneyi C. nigra 86 C. acuta C. wiluica 99 C. eleusinoides C. atrata 89 C. norvegica 98 C. angarae C. parviflora 100 C. raynoldsii 89 C. bella C. buxbaumii C. filicina 67 78 62 100 95 C. eburnea C. humilis C. lanceolata C. communis 95 C. leucodonta C. pilulifera C. oxyandra C. rossii 80 100 80 79 100 69 C. tomentosaa C. tomentosab 85 C. hispida 98 Phacocystis 2 Atratae Bicolores C. laxiflora Paniceae Trachychlaenae 100 82 Ferrugineae 100 98 C. globularis 100 100 95 100 C. digitalis C. microdonta C. acutiformis a C. acutiformis b C. pallescens C. torreyi C. pedunculata C. picta C. ericetorum C. viridulab 80 C. lepidocarpa C. demissa 99 C. viridulaa C. flava C. hostiana Granulares Paludosae "Digitatae 3" Ceratocystis C. sylvatica C. umbrosa a C. umbrosab C. mandshurica C. wahuensis Mitratae 95 100 Graciles "Montanae 3" C. vaginata C. falcata C. panicea C. pilosa C. mucronata INDOCAREX C. polystachya C. olbiensis 100 100 Hymenochlaenae C. aurea C. bicolor C. spissa C. serrulata C. flacca C. grioletii 100 C. ferruginea C. austroalpina C. brachystachys C. sempervirens C. firma 100 54 96 Phacocystis 1 100 92 88 Fecundae Albae "Digitatae 2" 100 77 67 Lupulinae Pseudocypereae Limosae C. brunnea C. alba 99 100 Hirtae 97 96 78 100 C. hirta 100 100 90 Vesicariae 62 82 C. distans C. mairii C. digitata 100 C. ornithopoda C. ornithopodioides C. brevicollis C. fuliginosa C. atrofusca 100 C. montana C. mira 100 C. pennsylvanica C. rugosperma C. luzulina C. lemmonii 100 C. gigas C. scirpoidea C. capillaris C. kitaibeliana C. liparocarpos C. concinnoides C. frigida C. extensa Spirostachyae 73 59 54 74 100 100 0.005 substitutions/site Digitatae 1 Montanae 1+"2" Scirpinae Capillares Lamprochlaenae C. alma C. canescens C. otrubae VIGNEA M. Hendrichs et al.: Carex, subgenus Carex (Cyperaceae) pistillate spikes, is normally smaller, and has mostly two stigmas. Many potential hybrids between C. vesicaria and C. saxatilis have been reported (Chater 1980; Ford et al. 1993, Cayouette and Catling 1992), named as C. grahamii Boott on the British Isles, C. stenolepis Less. in Southern Scandinavia and C. mainensis Porter ex Britton in North America. They all share the same ecology of wet and marshy, more calcareous grounds. As was shown for the shortbeaked taxa of section Vesicariae, including C. saxatilis, allele frequencies of isozymes can contribute to the problem of species delimitation (Ford et al. 1991). The representatives of section Hirtae, C. hirta, C. lasiocarpa and C. pellita, are related to the former section. The American C. pellita is more closely related to the European C. hirta than to C. lasiocarpa from Sweden. This result is not congruent with the chromosome counts giving the maximal count in the whole genus Carex of 2n ¼ 112 (Heilborn 1924, Davies 1956, Dietrich 1972) for the type species C. hirta (Egorova 1971). A significantly lower chromosome number is reported for the American C. pellita (Löve and Löve 1981, McClintock and Waterway 1994, Wahl 1940), and exactly the half number for C. lasiocarpa. (Reese 1953, McClintock and Waterway 1994). As was shown in section Capillares (Löve et al. 1957) the differentiation of chromosomes in classes based on length can give useful information to derivation, even if the simple chromosome count seems to be confusing. The close affinity of section Lupulinae to Vesicariae has never been doubted. Kükenthal regarded both sections as subsections within the section Physocarpae (Kükenthal 1909); 97 Mackenzie (1931–1935) also points out a close relationship. Our data support the separation of section Lupulinae (e.g. Mackenzie 1931– 1935, Fernald 1950) with C. lupulina and also C. lurida included. The two analyzed species of section Pseudocypereae, C. pseudocyperus collected in Germany and C. antoniensis from the Cape Verde Islands, share identical ITS sequence. A closer affinity of sections Vesicariae and Lupulinae and section Pseudocypereae is supported by NJ analysis, corresponding with the classical concept (Kükenthal 1909, Mackenzie 1931–1935). A closer relationship of sections Vesicariae, Lupulinae, Hirtae and Pseudocypereae is indicated by our analyses (a posteriori probability 100%, bootstrap value 56%). This was suggested by various authors (e.g. Mackenzie 1931–1935, Reznicek 1990) mainly due to the persistent style in most species. It is also supported by anatomical data of transverse sections of leafs and culms (Shepherd 1976) and by hybridization patterns. The hybrids of C. vesicaria and C. rostrata with C. pseudocyperus are common in Europe, the hybrids with C. lasiocarpa and C. hirta are rarely found (Kükenthal 1909, Chater 1980). From North America a hybrid between C. lurida and C. rostrata is known (Cayouette and Catling 1992). These frequent hybridizations result from the highly similar ecological preferences of wet to marshy and usually calcareous habitats of all species within this group. Section Limosae is a morphologically very homogeneous section of small species with characteristic pale-brown sheaths and a dense yellowish indumentum on the roots. These b Fig. 1. Bayesian inference of phylogenetic relationships within the subgenus Carex. Metropolis-coupled Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis of an alignment of nuclear sequences from the ITS region using the general time reversible model of DNA substitution with gamma distributed substitution rates, estimation of invariant sites, random starting trees, and random starting parameter values. Majority rule consensus tree from 18 000 trees that were sampled after the process had reached stationarity. The topology was rooted with Carex alma, C. canescens and C. otrubae (subgenus Vignea). The numbers on branches are estimates of a posteriori probabilities. Branch lengths were estimated using Maximum Likelihood settings and are scaled in terms of expected numbers of nucleotide substitutions per site. The sectional concept applied mainly corresponds to Kükenthal (1909) and Chater (1980). In section Hymenochlaenae only the core group is indicated 98 M. Hendrichs et al.: Carex, subgenus Carex (Cyperaceae) 76 C. saxatilis 69 C. vesicaria Vesicariae C. exsiccata 59 50 C. rostrata 85 C. lupulina Lupulinae Pseudocypereae C. lurida 55 93 C. pseudocyperus C. antoniensis C. hirta C. pellita C. lasiocarpa C. paupercula C. limosa C. rariflora C. donnell-smithii C. prasina 54 C. pallescens C. torreyi C. acutiformisa 100 C. acutiformis b C. globularis 70 C. pedunculata C. picta C. lepidocarpa C. viridula a 85 C. demissa 79 C. viridula b 98 C. flava C. hostiana C. sylvatica C. frigida C. capillaris C. extensa 64 71 C. distans C. mairii 83 C. aquatilis b 53 C. aquatilisa 65 C. angustata 68 C. schottii 71 C. elata C. bigelowii C. scopulorum 83 72 C. nigra C. wiluica 92 C. acuta 58 C. eleusinoides 66 C. debilis C. gracillima C. whitneyi 59 C. castanea 56 C. digitata C. ornithopodioides 100 C. ornithopoda 100 C. aurea C. bicolor C. olbiensis 68 78 Hirtae 88 Limosae Fecundae Paludosae "Digitatae 3" Ceratocystis Capillares Spirostachyae Phacocystis Hymenochlaenae Digitatae 1 Bicolores C. laxiflora 76 93 89 C. vaginata Paniceae C. falcata C. panicea C. pilosa C. tomentosa a C. tomentosa b 96 C. pennsylvanica C. rugosperma C. ericetorum C. digitalis 98 98 "Montanae 2" C. microdonta 90 0.005 substitutions/site 100 C. mucronata C. luzulina C. lemmonii C. atrofusca C. fuliginosa C. brevicollis 55 C. montana C. mira C. concinnoides 75 C. umbrosab C. mandshurica 63 94 C. umbrosa a C. wahuensis 96 C. hispida 72 C. spissa 97 C. serrulata C. flacca C. grioletii 99 C. ferruginea 86 C. austroalpina C. brachystachys 98 C. sempervirens C. firma C. kitaibeliana C. pilulifera C. rossii 56 C. oxyandra C. communis 64 C. leucodonta C. liparocarpos 100 C. gigas C. scirpoidea C. norvegica C. parviflora C. angarae C. buxbaumii C. raynoldsii 86 51 C. bella C. atrata 99 C. humilis C. lanceolata 82 C. alba 74 C. eburnea C. brunnea 95 C. filicina C. polystachya 97 C. alma C. canescens C. otrubae Granulares Montanae 1 Mitratae Trachychlaenae Ferrugineae "Montanae 3" Lamprochlaenae Scirpinae Atratae "Digitatae 2" Albae Graciles Indicae (INDOCAREX) VIGNEA M. Hendrichs et al.: Carex, subgenus Carex (Cyperaceae) species share similar ecological preferences of very wet and open peat. In our analyses C. paupercula and C. limosa cluster together with good support. C. rariflora, morphologically and ecologically very similar to the latter species, is in most analyses connected to section Limosae but never with good support. According to our data, section Limosae is not closely related to section Atratae, as was proposed by Crins (1990) on morphological grounds. C. donnell-smithii is the only representative of section Fecundae in our analysis. The position in the phylograms, indicated by NJ and MCMC analysis, has to be verified by additional sampling, including taxa from Central and South America. C. prasina has been included in section Hymenochlaenae (Kükenthal 1909) and was considered closely related to C. gracillima (Kükenthal 1909, Mackenzie 1931–1935). Our molecular data do not support this interpretation. Section Phacocystis comprises distigmatic species within subgenus Carex. The species are adapted to marshy and wet habitats and usually grow in populations with high numbers of individuals mainly in the northern temperate hemisphere. Kükenthal (1909) divided the section in seven subsections, Mackenzie (1931– 1935) accepted six of them. Species delimitation is difficult in this section (Hjelmqvist and Nyholm 1947; Sylvén 1963; Hylander 1966; Faulkner 1972, 1973; Cayouette and Morisset 1986). For many species a hybrid origin was presumed with the hybrids even staying fertile (Lepage 1956, Dutilly et al. 1958, Faulkner 1973, Cayouette and Morisset 1985, Cayouette and Catling 1992). The eleven species of section Phacocystis, analyzed in this study, form two well 99 supported sister clades. A first group comprises C. aquatilis, C. angustata, C. schottii, C. elata, closely related to C. bigelowii and C. scopulorum as members of Kükenthal’s (1909) subsection Rigidae. The second group contains C. eleusinoides as sister group of C. acuta, C. wiluica, and C. nigra. An adequate phylogenetic treatment of this section would require worldwide sampling. Only in case of C. angustata and C. schottii the geographical distribution correlates strictly with the molecular grouping. For C. aquatilis we compared a Canadian and a European specimen. Their ITS sequences differ in only 1 bp – this similarity again proves the wide distribution ranges of northern hemispheric species. Our results for section Phacocystis support the subsectional grouping of the taxa proposed by Faulkner (1973) on the basis of hybridization experiments. However, the groups proposed by Standley (Standley 1987, 1989, 1990) after clustering analysis of different anatomical characters and cytological data are not fully supported. The former subsection Bicolores, comprising distigmatic species, was often treated as a section of its own (e.g. Tuckerman 1843, Mackenzie 1931–1935, Ball 2002a). This separation is supported by our data (see below). Section Hymenochlaenae clusters together with the two Phacocystis-groups in both analyses. This species-rich section is traditionally divided into four groups for North America (Mackenzie 1931–1935, Waterway 2002) or in six subsections by Kükenthal (1909). We studied eight species and found a core group including the North American species C. debilis, C. gracillima, C. castanea, and C. whitneyi. Another American species, C. prasina, is not closely related to this clade b Fig. 2. ITS phylogram of the subgenus Carex obtained by neighbor joining analysis using the GTR+I+G substitution model. The topology was rooted with Carex alma, C. canescens and C. otrubae (subgenus Vignea). Percentage bootstrap values of 1 000 replicates are given at each furcation. Values smaller than 50% are not shown. Branch lengths are scaled in terms of expected numbers of nucleotide substitutions per site. The sectional concept applied mainly corresponds to Kükenthal (1909) and Chater (1980), respectively. In section Hymenochlaenae only the core group is indicated 100 M. Hendrichs et al.: Carex, subgenus Carex (Cyperaceae) (Roalson et al. 2001). The treatment of C. whitney in section Longicaules (comp. Mackenzie 1931–1935, Egorova 1999, Mastrogiuseppe 2002) is not supported by ITS data. Unexpectedly, C. sylvatica and C. capillaris neither cluster together nor with any other member of section Hymenochlaenae. This is in contrast to the broad sectional concept of Kükenthal (1909), who treated C. capillaris in subsection Capillares. Later authors (e.g. Mackenzie 1931–1935, Egorova 1999, Ball 2002b) separated both on sectional rank, which is supported by molecular data. Thus, our molecular data support the interpretation that section Hymenochlaenae sensu Drejer (1844) is heterogeneous as was proposed earlier considering morphological data (e.g. Ascherson and Graebner 1902–1904, Mackenzie 1931–1935), and recently by phylogenetic hypotheses based on ITS and cpDNA sequences (Waterway and Olmstead 1998, Roalson et al. 2001). Chromosome counts were not applicable for a better resolution of the species-rich Hymenochlaenae (Heilborn 1924, Davies 1956, Löve et al. 1957, Moore and Calder 1964, Dietrich 1972). The seven species of the homogeneous section Atratae included in our analyses form a well supported clade in both analyses. The section is well characterized by mostly bisexual terminal spikes and the dark-colored scales and perigynia. In the MCMC analysis, C. atrata is closely connected to C. norvegica and C. angarae. These two species differ in 5 bp in our alignment. C. parviflora, found in Switzerland, seems closely related to C. raynoldsii from Idaho and C. bella from New Mexico. C. buxbaumii clusters within section Atratae but has no closer relationship to any species in the analyses. It also differs considerably in chromosome number (Heilborn 1924, Löve and Löve 1981; compare Table 1). The two members of subgenus Indocarex integrated in our analyses, C. polystachya and C. filicina of section Indicae, cluster together with high support. The Chinese C. brunnea, as the only member of distigmatic section Graciles, clusters together with section Indicae (Fig. 1) or section Albae (Fig. 2) respectively (comp. Roalson et al. 2001). To clarify the position of section Indicae, sampling of other species of subgenus Indocarex and of Asian species of related sections is required. The two members of section Albae, C. alba and C. eburnea, cluster together with high support in all analyses. Kükenthal (1909) considered these taxa to be identical, however they can be easily separated by seven different bp in ITS sequences. MCMC analysis reveals high support for a close relationship of section Indicae, subgenus Indocarex, to section Albae. Thus, subgenus Indocarex cannot be separated from subgenus Carex as a subgenus of its own (e.g. Raymond 1959, Koyama 1962), as was shown previously by Starr et al. (1999) and Roalson et al. (2001) and is supported by chloroplast DNA data (Yen and Olmstead 2000). Section Digitatae is divided into three distinct groups in the ITS hypotheses. The European species C. digitata, C. ornithopoda, and C. ornithopodioides strongly cluster together (Digitatae 1) underlining morphological similarities. A second clade (‘‘Digitatae 2’’) combines C. humilis with C. lanceolata, again with high support. The sequence of Japanese C. lanceolata is with 1 bp difference nearly identical to C. humilis. In some analyses the American C. concinnoides, characterized by a square achene and four stigmas per pistil, groups with the European Digitatae 1, but without sufficient support. C. pedunculata clusters together with the dioecious C. picta in both analyses (‘‘Digitatae 3’’; a posteriori probability 100%, bootstrap value 72%). Traditionally, C. picta was placed in section Pictae, subgenus Primocarex. Kükenthal (1909) already gives a hint to the closer relationship of C. picta and C. pedunculata by referring to C. baltzellii as a member of section Digitatae: ‘‘Species subgeneris Eucarex ab hac derivata est C. Baltzellii Chapm.’’ (Kükenthal 1909, p. 82). This was followed by later authors (e.g. Mackenzie 1931–1935, Martens 1939, Ball 2002c) and can be M. Hendrichs et al.: Carex, subgenus Carex (Cyperaceae) confirmed by molecular data (comp. Roalson et al. 2001). Chromosome numbers of C. picta (2n ¼ 32) (Löve and Löve 1981) and C. pedunculata (2n ¼ 26) (Löve and Löve 1981) are low compared to the zygotic numbers of other species of section Digitatae. Chromosome numbers of C. digitata (Davies 1956), C. ornithopoda and C. ornithopodioides are very similar to each other with an average diploid number of 52 (Heilborn 1924, Dietrich 1972). Chromosome numbers in ‘‘Digitatae 2’’ differ very much: C. humilis with zygotic number of 36 (Tanaka 1942b, Dietrich 1972, Murı́n and Májovsky 1976) and C. lanceolata with a range of counts from 68 to 80 (in Roalson et al. 2001). Section Montanae appears non-monophyletic, too (Fig. 1). One group, designated ‘‘Montanae 3’’ comprises C. communis and C. leucodonta together with C. rossii, C. pilulifera and C. oxyranda. A second group (‘‘Montanae 2’’), not closely related to the first one, consists of C. pennsylvanica, C. rugosperma and C. ericetorum. The latter species does not cluster in this group in MCMC analysis, though in both groups European specimens are mixed together with North American or Asian species. Thus, a geographical separation is not supported. The namegiving C. montana (Montanae 1) clusters together with C. mira, and appears on a common branch with the former group in MCMC analysis. C. mira, integrated in section Frigidae by Kükenthal (1909), was classified as a member of section Montanae by Ohwi (1936), which is verified by our molecular data. The non-monophyletic nature of section Montanae recently was explained in great detail by Roalson et al. (2001) and is therefore not discussed here. Two species of distigmatic section Bicolores were studied in our analysis: C. bicolor collected in Switzerland and C. aurea from California. Tuckerman (1843) separated section Bicolores from section Phacocystis (Kükenthal 1909). C. eleusinoides, ascribed to section Bicolores by Kükenthal (1909), was treated as member of section Phacocystis by Ohwi (1936), which is supported by our data. 101 Mackenzie (1931–1935) accepted this classification because of special characteristics of perigynia and distribution of sexes in the spikes. The ITS sequences of C. bicolor and C. aurea differ only in 1 bp. Also chromosome numbers are apparently identical (Davies 1956, Dietrich 1972, Faulkner 1972, Löve and Löve 1981). A larger sampling, including Californian species C. hassei and C. garberi, is required to clarify species delimitation of C. aurea and C. bicolor. In our phylograms two species of section Careyanae, C. laxiflora from Texas and C. olbiensis from Italy cluster between section Bicolores and Paniceae. Another species, C. digitalis, traditionally classified in section Careyanae, clusters with C. microdonta, the only representative of section Granulares integrated in our analyses. A close relationship of section Careyanae and section Paniceae was often postulated in previous studies based on identical morphological characters, like perigynium structure and sheathing lowest bract (e.g. Carey 1848, Kükenthal 1909, Mackenzie 1931–1935, Koyama 1962). Based on foliar flavonoids, Manhart (1986) demonstrated that the North American species of the broadly defined section Careyanae can be separated in two subgroups. This was supported by detailed investigations in macro- and micromorphology (Bryson 1980, Naczi 1997) and by molecular data (Starr et al. 1999). Section Paniceae forms a well supported clade in NJ analysis (Fig. 2). The Russian C. falcata is closely related to C. vaginata from Swedish Lappland. The difference of only one bp in ITS sequences raises the question how to distinguish these species. In contrast, C. panicea is well distinguished from C. vaginata in its ITS sequence by 11 bp exchanges. The chromosome number of the species within this section is 2n ¼ 32 (Heilborn 1922, 1924; Dietrich 1972; Löve and Löve 1981). The close relationship of section Bicolores and section Panicea was already proposed by Kükenthal (1909) and Mackenzie (1931–1935) and is supported by our molecular data. 102 M. Hendrichs et al.: Carex, subgenus Carex (Cyperaceae) Traditionally, C. pilosa is considered to belong to section Rhomboidales. In our phylograms the latter species always clusters within section Paniceae. Two other species of section Rhomboidales, C. brevicollis and C. wahuensis, do not cluster with C. pilosa in both molecular trees. In the MCMC analysis, Carex wahuensis is well supported in a cluster together with C. umbrosa and C. mandshurica. There is no support for the position of C. brevicollis. Additional sampling in this section with many species in East Asia is urgently required for critically reviewing Koyamas (1962) enlarged sectional concept. The two specimens of C. tomentosa from Germany and Kazakhstan differ in only 1 bp in the ITS sequence. Their position in the tree is discussed below together with other members of section Pachystylae. The analyzed species of section Trachychlaenae cluster together in both molecular trees. C. flacca is the most common sedge in Central Europe lacking clearcut ecological or altitudinal preferences. A mediterranean taxon, C. serrulata, has been classified as subspecies by Kükenthal (1909). The cytological similarities (Heilborn 1924, Davies 1956, Kjellqvist and Löve 1963, Dietrich 1972, Löve and Löve 1981) are underlined by our ITS data with only 1 bp difference within a total of 638 bp. The Mediterranean C. hispida is a sister taxon of C. spissa from California. The separation of these two species in section Hispidae, as proposed by Mackenzie (1931– 1935), is at least not contrary to the molecular result. In both analyses, C. grioletii, a species of the heterogeneous section Pachystylae, clusters close to section Trachychlaenae. Molecular phylograms reveal the section Frigidae to be non-monopyhletic. The species ascribed to subsection Ferrugineae by Kükenthal (1909) cluster in two closely related groups together with section Trachychlaenae in both analyses. A first group comprises C. ferruginea, C. austroalpina, and C. brachystachys. These species are characterized by perigynia with prominent nerves and anthers with only slightly serrated terminal tips. The diploid chromosome number is 40 (Dietrich 1967). The second group of Ferrugineae, including C. sempervirens and C. firma, can be characterized morphologically by a perigynium surface without conspicuous nerves and anthers terminating with a strongly serrated crown-like structure (Dietrich 1967). These morphological features and identical chromosome sets (2n ¼ 36) are shared by C. kitaibeliana and C. mucronata (Dietrich 1967). C. kitaibeliana clusters together with the Ferrugineae group in the NJ tree, but without support. In the MCMC phylogram, C. kitaibeliana appears as an isolated taxon within Carex. In both molecular trees, C. mucronata clusters together with C. digitalis and C. microdonta, however only weakly supported. Species included in section Frigidae subsection Fuliginosae by Kükenthal (1909), C. fuliginosa, C. luzulina, C. atrofusca, and C. frigida, are scattered in both trees without any supported position. Only the American species C. luzulina clusters together with C. lemmonii, with significant support, as discussed below. However, they are not closely associated to the core group of this section, which consists only of European species. C. fuliginosa grows in tussocks, but resembles morphologically C. atrata, which forms longcreeping rootstocks. Both share bisexual terminal spikes with female flowers inserted above basal male flowers. In both trees there is no closer connection to section Atratae. C. atrofusca was often doubted to be a member of section Frigidae (e.g. Christ 1885, Dietrich 1967). Dietrich (1967) suggested a closer relationship to section Atrata. In our analyses, however, the position of C. atrofusca is not resolved at all. Also C. frigida, distinguished by bidentate beak and a chromosome number of 2n ¼ 56 (Davies 1956, Dietrich 1967), does not appear within the core group of section Frigidae. The next cluster in the MCMC tree comprises three species of section Pachystylae, C. pallescens, C. torreyi and C. globularis, surprisingly clustering always together with C. acutiformis as the only representative of M. Hendrichs et al.: Carex, subgenus Carex (Cyperaceae) section Paludosae. C. tomentosa, another member of section Pachystylae in the traditional classification, does not cluster together with this group. Its unsupported position in the NJ tree is close to section Paniceae. This position is confirmed by the MCMC analysis. The two other members of section Pachystylae treated in our analysis, C. mandshurica and C. grioletii, do not appear within the core group. C. mandshurica is grouped with C. umbrosa in both the NJ and MCMC tree, and C. grioletii is close to section Trachychlaenae in both trees. Nevertheless, section Pachystylae sensu Kükenthal (1909) is proven to be non-monophyletic by our analyses. Section Ceratocystis forms an optimally supported cluster in all analyses, with C. flava and C. hostiana connected to a core group comprising C. viridula, C. lepidocarpa and C. demissa. ITS sequences allow to distinguish C. flava from C. hostiana and the complex of taxa grouped around C. viridula. This corresponds with chromosome numbers, i.e. an aneuploid series from the diploid numbers 56 for C. hostiana (Davies 1956, Heilborn 1924) to 60 for C. flava (Heilborn 1939, Crins and Ball 1988, Halkka et al. 1992) and 2n ¼ 68, 70 within a group including C. demissa and C. lepidocarpa (Heilborn 1928, Dietrich 1964, Halkka et al. 1992). Our data support the proposal of Schmid (1983) to rank C. lepidocarpa and C. demissa as subspecies of C. viridula. Crins and Ball (1989) accepted this taxonomy for the American species. The C. flava complex is one of the most difficult and actually wellstudied groups (Schmid 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986; Crins and Ball 1988, 1989; Crins 1990; Bruederle and Jensen 1991; Halkka et al. 1992; Pykälä and Toivonen 1994; Hedrén and Prentice 1996). Therefore, we included sequences of five additional specimens of the C. flava agg. in our analyses. However, since ITS sequences yielded no apparent resolution these data are not presented. Analysis of a more variable region may probably supply better results. The grouping of C. sylvatica with section Ceratocystis in both analyses underlines the 103 revealed heterogeneity of section Hymenochlaenae. C. umbrosa is the only species of section Mitratae in our analyses. The specimen from Siberia, identified as subspecies sabynensis by Murray et al. (in Roalson et al. 2001) clusters closer to C. mandshurica than to C. umbrosa from Germany (Fig. 2). In contrast to Kükenthal (1909), who accepted only subspecies rank, Ohwi (1936) separated C. sabynensis as a distinct species, which is supported by NJ analysis. Three species of section Spirostachyae form a well supported cluster. C. extensa and C. distans are closely related and always grouped together with C. mairii. Section Spirostachyae has often been united with section Ceratocystis to one section Extensae Fries (e.g. Fries 1835, Drejer 1844, Bailey 1889, Holm 1903, Mackenzie 1931–1935, Kreczetovicz 1935). The separation into two sections was favored by patterns of flavonoid compounds (Harborne 1971), by character compatibility analyses and multivariate statistical analyses of morphological data (Crins and Ball 1988). It is also in agreement with our molecular data. C. lemmonii and C. luzulina both belong to a small group of species endemic to the mountains of western North America. C. lemmonii was included by Kükenthal (1909) in section Spirostachyae, but considered as a member of section Frigidae by Mackenzie (1931–1935). Interestingly, it clusters together with C. luzulina of section Frigidae, but shows no close relationship to the core group of the section. Accordingly, it would be at least not contrary to our molecular results, to restrict section Spirostachyae and also subsection Ferrugineae of section Frigidae to European species. The dioecious section Scirpinae was included in subgenus Primocarex by some authors (e.g Kükenthal 1909, Chater 1980), but also transferred to subgenus Carex (e.g. Bailey 1889, Mackenzie 1931–1935) based on recent support by molecular phylograms (Roalson et al. 2001). C. gigas and C. scirpoidea, two morphologically and cytologically slightly different American species (Löve and Solbrig 1964, Dunlop 1997, 104 M. Hendrichs et al.: Carex, subgenus Carex (Cyperaceae) Dunlop and Crow 1999) cluster together with statistical support. However, connections to any other section are not resolved. C. liparocarpos, the only species of section Lamprochlaenae in our study, is placed in an isolated position in the MCMC tree. In summary, the ITS region does not provide enough phylogenetic information to fully resolve the relationships between sections within subgenus Carex. Nevertheless, conclusions on some major affinities within adequately sampled sections and about defining these sections can be inferred. Certainly, a comprehensive interpretation of sectional limits within subgenus Carex requires additional data and therefore no taxonomic conclusions are drawn in this study. The authors thank R. Berndt for the loan of specimens, W. Maier for the loan of specimens and helpful discussion, M. Weiß and M. Göker for assistance in phylogenetic analyses, an anonymous reviewer for valuable comments and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft for financial support. This paper is partial fulfillment of the requirements for a PhD degree for MH, University of Tübingen. References Ascherson P., Graebner P. (1902–1904) Synopsis der mitteleuropäischen Flora. Leipzig, W. Engelmann. Bailey L. H. (1889) Carex. In: Gray A. (ed.) The manual of the botany of the Northern United States. American Book Co., New York, pp. 587– 622. Ball P. W. 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