Phylogeny, biogeography and evolution of Triglochin L. (Juncaginaceae)--morphological diversification is linked to habitat shifts rather than to genetic diversification.

A species-level phylogeny is presented for Triglochin, the largest genus of Juncaginaceae (Alismatales) comprising about 30 species of annual and perennial herbs. Triglochin has an almost cosmopolitan distribution with Australia as centre of species diversity. Trans-Atlantic and trans-African disjunctions exist in the genus. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted based on molecular data obtained from nuclear (ITS, internal transcribed spacer) and chloroplast sequence data (psbA-trnH spacer, matK gene). Based on the phylogeny of the group divergence times were estimated and ancestral distribution areas reconstructed. Our data confirm the monophyly of Triglochin and resolve relationships between the major lineages of the genus. The sister group relationship between the Mediterranean/African T. bulbosa complex and the American T. scilloides (formerly Lilaea s.) is strongly supported. This clade is sister to the rest of the genus which contains two main clades. In the first, the widespread T. striata is sister to a clade comprising annual Triglochin species from Australia. The second clade comprises T. palustris as sister to the T. maritima complex, of which the latter is further divided into a Eurasian and an American subclade. Taxonomic diversity in some clades appears to be linked to habitat shifts and is not present in old but ecologically invariable lineages such as the non-monophyletic T. maritima. Diversification in Triglochin began in the Miocene or Oligocene, and most disjunctions in Triglochin were dated to the Miocene.