Polyphyletic origin in Pimpinella (Apiaceae): evidence in Western Europe

The genus Pimpinella L. comprises about 150 species, being one of the largest genera within the family Apiaceae (subfamily Apioideae). Previous molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that Pimpinella is a taxonomically complex group. In this study, evolutionary relationships among representatives from Western Europe have been inferred from phylogenetic analyses of nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS 1 and ITS 2) and plastid sequences ( trnL intron and the trnL-F spacer), with a representative sampling included (168 accessions in the ITS analysis, representing 158 species; and 42 accessions in the cpDNA analysis representing 35 taxa of Pimpinella and closely related species). All analyses resolved that Pimpinella is a non-monophyletic group, and Pimpinella ’s taxa that grow in Western Europe are part of phylogenetically independent groups that correspond to three different tribes of the subfamily Apioideae: Pimpinelleae (core group), Pyramidoptereae and Smyrnieae.