Phylogenetic Relationships of the Silver Saxifrages (Saxifraga, Sect. Ligulatae Haworth): Implications for the Evolution of Substrate Specificity, Life Histories, and Biogeography

The silver saxifrages (Saxifraga sect. Ligulatae Haworth; Saxifragaceae) exhibit remarkable variation of substrate specialization, with strictly calcicole to calcifuge species, as well as life histories which range from semelparity to iteroparity. They occur almost exclusively in the European mountain ranges and display high levels of endemism. Sequences from chloroplast and nuclear ribosomal DNA were obtained to resolve phylogenetic relationships among the silver saxifrages and related taxa and to gain insight into the evolution of substrate specificity, life history, and biogeography. The resulting phylogenies suggested that (1) Saxifraga sect. Ligulatae, as traditionally defined, does not constitute a monophyletic group; (2) lime-secreting hydathodes in calcifuge species apparently represent a secondary nonaptation; (3) semelparity evolved independently two or three times in the silver saxifrages and allied sections, possibly in response to climatic changes that occured during the Pleistocene; and (4) narrow endemics, for example S. cochlearis, likely evolved from the fragmentation of the widespread S. paniculata into refugial populations that became isolated during the glacial maxima of the Pleistocene.