Journal of Systematics JSE and Evolution doi: 10.1111/jse.12472 Research Article Evolutionary history of the arid climate-adapted Helichrysum (Asteraceae: Gnaphalieae): Cape origin and association between annual life-history and low chromosome numbers Santiago Andres-S anchez1*, G. Anthony Verboom2, Merce Galbany-Casals3, and Nicola G. Bergh2,4 1Departamento de Didactica de la Matematica y Didactica de las Ciencias Experimentales and Biobanco vegetal, Banco Nacional de ADN, University of Salamanca, 37007, Salamanca, Spain 2Department of Biological Sciences, HW Pearson Building, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Cape Town, 7701, South Africa 3Departament de Biologia Animal, Biologia Vegetal i Ecologia, Facultat de Biociencies, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain and Sistematica y Evolucion de Plantas Vasculares (Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona), Unidad Asociada al CSIC 4The Compton Herbarium, Kirstenbosch Research Center, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Private Bag X7, Newlands, Cape Town, 7735, South Africa *Author for correspondence. E-mail:
[email protected] Received 13 September 2018; Accepted 15 November 2018; Article first published online24 xx November Month 2018 2018 Abstract The basal grade of the large, widely-distributed Helichrysum-Anaphalis-Pseudognaphalium (HAP) clade (Asteraceae, Gnaphalieae) comprises exclusively southern African taxa. These species possess unusual trait combinations relative to the remaining species (a high proportion of annuals, unusual capitulum arrangement, and low base chromosome numbers). A time-proportional Bayesian phylogenetic hypothesis is generated from nuclear ribosomal sequences from 110 accessions. Ancestral area, life history, and base chromosome number are reconstructed using maximum likelihood, and correlations between life-history and chromosome number are tested in a phylogenetic framework. The results show that the HAP clade probably originated and experienced initial diversification in the Greater Cape Floristic Region in the Early to Middle Miocene.