Everywhere but Antarctica: Using a Super Tree to Understand the Diversity and Distribution of the Compositae
BS 55 343 Everywhere but Antarctica: Using a super tree to understand the diversity and distribution of the Compositae VICKI A. FUNK, RANDALL J. BAYER, STERLING KEELEY, RAYMUND CHAN, LINDA WATSON, BIRGIT GEMEINHOLZER, EDWARD SCHILLING, JOSE L. PANERO, BRUCE G. BALDWIN, NURIA GARCIA-JACAS, ALFONSO SUSANNA AND ROBERT K. JANSEN FUNK, VA., BAYER, R.J., KEELEY, S., CHAN, R., WATSON, L, GEMEINHOLZER, B., SCHILLING, E., PANERO, J.L., BALDWIN, B.G., GARCIA-JACAS, N., SUSANNA, A. &JANSEN, R.K 2005. Everywhere but Antarctica: Using a supertree to understand the diversity and distribution of the Compositae. Biol. Skr. 55: 343-374. ISSN 0366-3612. ISBN 87-7304-304-4. One of every 10 flowering plant species is in the family Compositae. With ca. 24,000-30,000 species in 1600-1700 genera and a distribution that is global except for Antarctica, it is the most diverse of all plant families. Although clearly mouophyletic, there is a great deal of diversity among the members: habit varies from annual and perennial herbs to shrubs, vines, or trees, and species grow in nearly every type of habitat from lowland forests to the high alpine fell fields, though they are most common in open areas. Some are well-known weeds, but most species have restricted distributions, and members of this family are often important components of 'at risk' habitats as in the Cape Floral Kingdom or the Hawaiian Islands. The sub-familial classification and ideas about major patterns of evolution and diversification within the family remained largely unchanged from Beutham through Cronquist. Recently obtained data, both morphologi- cal and molecular, have allowed us to examine the distribution and evolution of the family in a way that was never before possible.
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