On Biodiversity and Conservation of the Iris Hexagona Complex (Phaeiris, Iridaceae) 1, 2 3 1 EVGENY V
SYNTHESIS & INTEGRATION On biodiversity and conservation of the Iris hexagona complex (Phaeiris, Iridaceae) 1, 2 3 1 EVGENY V. M AVRODIEV, JUAN P. G OMEZ, NICHOLAS E. MAVRODIEV, ANTHONY E. MELTON, 4 4 1 1 MARIO MARTINEZ-AZORIN, MANUEL B. CRESPO, SCOTT K. ROBINSON, AND DAVID W. STEADMAN 1Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, PO Box 117800, Gainesville, Florida 32611 USA 2Departamento de Quımica y Biologıa, Universidad del Norte, Km 5 Vıa a Pto. Colombia, Barranquilla, Colombia 3Cornerstone Academy, 1520 NW 34th Street, Gainesville, Florida 32605 USA 4Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales y Recursos Naturales (Botanica), Universidad de Alicante, Apartado 99, Alicante E-03080 Spain Citation: Mavrodiev, E. V., J. P. Gomez, N. E. Mavrodiev, A. E. Melton, M. Martınez-Azorın, M. B. Crespo, S. K. Robinson, and D. W. Steadman. 2020. On biodiversity and conservation of the Iris hexagona complex (Phaeiris, Iridaceae). Ecosphere 12(1):e03331. 10.1002/ecs2.3331 Abstract. Taxonomic revisions using newly available molecular data can have profound consequences for identifying areas of high endemism and, therefore, high conservation priority. A good example of the con- nection between taxonomy, biodiversity ecology, and conservation issues is genus Phaeiris (Iris subsect. Hexagonae), an endemic taxon of the southeastern United States and in particular P. hexagona (I. hexagona) (Blue Flag), perhaps the best-known species of this genus. Some authors recently provided evidence for the need to revise the taxonomy of the Blue Flag, which has usually been considered to consist of a single species, P. hexagona. Using molecular and bioclimatic analyses of Blue Flags from Florida and Louisiana, collected at their loci classici, we challenge the notion that P.