Euphorbia polycarpa (Euphorbia subg. Chamaesyce sect. Anisophyllum) is one of the most common species of the Sonoran Desert. It exhibits a wide range of morphological variation and has been considered as a taxonomic complex. Since the late nineteenth century more than seven varieties have been described for the complex, some with very restricted distributions. Because of morphological intergrades present in the complex, there has been much confusion among taxonomists, and it became necessary to clarify the taxonomy of this complex using molecular phylogenetic evidence in addition to morphology alone. In this paper we reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships for the E. polycarpa complex based on molecular information from the psbA-trnH and ITS spacers, using Bayesian inference. Morphology was compared with phylogenetic results, and we also explored geographic patterns of the varieties of the complex, as well as closely related species of Euphorbia sect. Anisophyllum. Taking into account the results obtained, we propose that E. polycarpa is treated as a single, highly variable species. Given the incongruities among morphology, geography, and evolutionary history inferred from molecular data, we do not recognize any of the varieties proposed previously. The phylogeny presented shows three well-supported putative lineages and suggest a complex evolutionary history within E. polycarpa.
POLY_ITS_gN_FINAL
NEXUS file for ITS matrix aligned.
POLY_PSB_gN_iC_FINAL
NEXUS file for psbA-trnH data aligned
Figure S1
FIG. S1. Phylogenetic reconstruction using the majority rule consensus from Bayesian analyses of the nuclear region ITS and chloroplast region psbA-trnH concatenated. Numbers above the branches are Bayesian posterior probabilities (PP).
Figure S2
FIG. S2. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Leaves of two different sizes”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on psbA-trnH. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S3
FIG. S3. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Leaves of two different sizes”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on ITS. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S4
FIG. S4. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Leaf shape”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on psbA-trnH. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S5
FIG. S5. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Leaf shape”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on ITS. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S6
FIG. S6. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Stipule shape”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on psbA-trnH. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S7
FIG. S7. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Stipule shape”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on ITS. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S8
FIG. S8. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Glandular tricomes on the peduncle”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on psbA-trnH. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S9
FIG. S9. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Glandular tricomes on the peduncle”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on ITS. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S10
FIG. S10. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Pubescence on vegetative parts”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on psbA-trnH. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S11
FIG. S11. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Pubescence on vegetative parts”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on ITS. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S12
FIG. S12. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Appendage margin”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on psbA-trnH. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S13
FIG. S13. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Appendage margin”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on ITS. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S14
FIG. S14. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Zigzag steams”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on psbA-trnH. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S15
FIG. S15. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Zigzag steams”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on ITS. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S16
FIG. S16. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Appendages long (mm)”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on psbA-trnH. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S17
FIG. S17. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Appendages long (mm)”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on ITS. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S18
FIG. S18. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Relation between the width of the appendage and width of the gland”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on psbA-trnH. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S19
FIG. S19. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Relation between the width of the appendage and width of the gland”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on ITS. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S20
FIG. S20. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Sonoran biome and adjacent areas”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on psbA-trnH. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
Figure S21
FIG. S21. Ancestral state reconstruction for the character: “Sonoran biome and adjacent areas”, on the phylogenetic hypothesis based on ITS. Circles denote the state and circles in the nodes show the proportional likelihood visually.
