Christoph Oberprieler The Systematics of Anthemis L. - Herbmedit.org

14 Oberprieler: Anthemis in N Africa
sive morphological and c1adistic study, no deliberate choice is made here between the two
proposed scenarios, but for practical purposes the c1assification proposed by Fernandes
(1975b, 1976) is provisionally followed.
6. Phytogeography
The total geographical range of Anthemis encompasses almost the whole western Eurasia,
the Mediterranean, and a small part of E Africa. According to Meusel & Higer (1992)
the distribution range is very similar to those of Daucus, Cichorium, and Filago. While C
Europe is inhabited by few archaeophytic species only, the mai n centre of diversity is
found in SW Asia where about 150 of the c. 210 described species occur and all of the
presently accepted subgenera and sections are found. The W and C North African part of
the distribution area, which is covered by the present revision, hosts a markedly lower
number of species and certainly has played a rather peripheral role in the evolution of the
genus.
Anthemis sect. Hiorthia, formed by perenni al herbs and subshrubs of predominantly
mountainous habitats and often considered to be the most primitive section of Anthemis,
shows a marked centre of diversity in SW Asia (Turkey and the adjacent Caucasus countries)
and the mediterranean and submediterranean parts of SE Europe. According to
Kuzmanov & al. (1981), Asia Minor is considered the primary evolutionary centre of the
genus in generai and of A. sect. Hiorthia in particular, since diploid representatives of this
section, in which polyploidy occurs, are concentrated here. While most of the SW Asian
and SE European species of A. sect. Hiorthia are restricted to small areas, the highly
polymorphic A. eretica (inc1uding A. carpatica and A. saxatilis) which is represented in
Turkey by not less than 12 subspecies (Grierson & Yavin 1975) extends to C and even W
southern Europe, and A. eretica subsp. columnae, a subspecies which is centred on the
Balkan Peninsula and Italy, even occurs in Algeria in an extremely restricted area. The
distribution range of three other N African members of A. sect. Hiorthia, A. maritima,
A. pedunculata, and A. abylaea, contrasts markedly with the pattern just described for
A. eretica. A. maritima is restricted to the W Mediterranean area and, due to its deviating
ecology, presumably represents a evolutionallineage quite independent from the remainder
of the section. Additionally, diploid plants are found scattered throughout the distribution
range of the species (Menorca, Benedi' i Gonzales 1987; Algeria, A. maritima subsp.
bolosii, present paper). Similarly, the Ibero-Maghrebine A. pedunculata is also restricted
to the W Mediterranean region and occurs at the diploid and tetraploid level. The deviating
fruit morphology, with achenes circular instead of rhombic in cross-section, again
suggests that A. pedunculata and its c10se tetraploid relative A. abylaea evolved independently
from the remainder of the section. An obvious pattern of vicariance within A. sect.
Hiorthia thus emerges, with a main centre of diversity in SW Asia and a minor centre
formed by the lineages of A. maritima, A. pedunculata, and the Spanish diploid
A. alpestris in the W Mediterranean area. The tetraploid NE Algerian and N Tunisian
A. punctata, the fifth N African species of A. sect. Hiorthia, geographically links
A. pedunculata with the A. eretica group (the Sicilian endemic species A. cupaniana and
A. eretica subsp. columnae), being restricted to the area where the two lineages overlap.