Evolutionary tendencies in some annual species of Brotnus (Bromus L. sect. Genea Dum. (Poaceae))

A multidisciplinary investigation of the eight annual taxa of Bromus sect. Genea throughout their total ranges has brought a fresh insight into their evolutionary pathways. These species, mainly in southwest Asia and the Mediterranean, are still actively in the process of speciation and their study illuminates evolutionary processes in annual grasses as a whole. Following a discussion of Genea features, a list of ancestral and derived characters in the group is presented. The recent emergence of a multiplicity of niches is probably the reason for the rapid emergence of many new kinds of plants in sect. Genea.