Nuclear ribosomal DNA evidence for a western North American origin of Hawaiian and South American species of Sanicula (Apiaceae).

Results from phylogenetic analysis of nuclear rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences from a worldwide sample of Sanicula indicate that Hawaiian sanicles (Sanicula sect. Sandwicenses) constitute a monophyletic group that descended from a western North American ancestor in Sanicula sect. Sanicoria, a paraphyletic assemblage of mostly Californian species. A monophyletic group comprising representatives of all 15 species of S. sect. Sanicoria and the three sampled species of S. sect. Sandwicenses was resolved in all maximally parsimonious trees, rooted with sequences from species of Astrantia and Eryngium. All sequences sampled from eastern North American, European, and Asian species of Sanicula fell outside the ITS clade comprising S. sect. Sanicoria and S. sect. Sandwicenses. A lineage comprising the Hawaiian taxa and three species endemic to coastal or near-coastal habitats in western North America (Sanicula arctopoides, Sanicula arguta, and Sanicula laciniata) is diagnosed by nucleotide substitutions and a 24-bp deletion in ITS2. The hooked fruits in Sanicula lead us to conclude that the ancestor of Hawaiian sanicles arrived from North America by external bird dispersal; similar transport has been hypothesized for the North American tarweed ancestor of the Hawaiian silversword alliance (Asteraceae). Two additional long-distance dispersal events involving members of S. sect. Sanicoria can be concluded from the ITS phylogeny: dispersal of Sanicula crassicaulis and Sanicula graveolens from western North America to southern South America.