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Dryad

Data from: The symmetry spectrum in a hybridising, tropical group of rhododendrons

Data files

Jun 13, 2022 version files 4.29 GB
Nov 11, 2024 version files 4.29 GB

Abstract

Many diverse plant clades possess bilaterally symmetrical flowers and specialized pollination syndromes suggesting these traits may promote diversification. We examine the evolution of diverse floral morphologies and the association with diversification history in a species-rich tropical radiation of Rhododendron. We used restriction-site associated DNA sequencing on 114 taxa from Rhododendron sect. Schistanthe to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships, infer colonization of Southeast Asia, and examine hybridization. We then captured and quantified floral variation using geometric morphometric analyses which we interpret in a phylogenetic context. We uncovered phylogenetic complexity caused by introgression within and between clades. Morphometric analyses revealed flower symmetry to be a morphological continuum without a clear transition from radial to bilateral symmetry. The largest radiation of tropical Rhododendron species is associated with an expansion into novel floral morphological space as species diversified in New Guinea about 6 million years ago. Our results showed that the recent radiation of tropical Rhododendron is a consequence of hybridization, genetic isolation caused by mountain building, and the evolution of floral novelty. Floral variation evolved via changes to multiple components of the corolla that are only recognized in geometric morphometrics with both front and side views of flowers.