Helianthus waccamawensis (Asteraceae), a new species of sunflower endemic to the Cape Fear Arch Region of North and South Carolina (U.S.A.)

Authors

  • Eric A. Ungberg South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
  • James W. Horn Florida Gulf Coast University
  • Derick B. Poindexter North Carolina Botanical Garden
  • Keith A. Bradley South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
  • Alan S. Weakley North Carolina Botanical Garden

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17348/jbrit.v18.i2.1365

Keywords:

Helianthus, Cape Fear Arch, phylogeny, cytology, polyploidy, biogeography, morphometric analysis

Abstract

A new species of Helianthus (Asteraceae), Helianthus waccamawensis Ungberg, sp. nov., is described from the Cape Fear Arch Region of North and South Carolina. Most recently, it has been included in H. floridanus A. Gray ex Chapm. but differs in its narrower leaves, achene and floral morphology, and habitat preferences. It superficially resembles H. angustifolius L. but differs in its extensively rhizomatous habit, shorter leaves, and achene and floral morphologies. It is further differentiated from the diploids H. floridanus and H. angustifolius by being hexaploid, and molecular phylogenetic data do not indicate a close relation to either species. In situ photos, diagnostic morphological photos, molecular phylogenetic data, cytological data, a range map, a list of additional collections, and a revised key for relevant southeastern Helianthus species are provided.

References

ANDERSON, J., M. KANTAR, D. BOCK, K.C. GRUBBS, E. SCHILLING, & L. RIESEBERG. 2019. Skim-sequencing reveals the likely origin of the enigmatic endangered sunflower Helianthus schweinitzii. Genes 10:1040–1051. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes10121040

BACHMAN, S., J. MOAT, A.W. HILL, J. DE LA TORRE, & B. SCOTT. 2011. Supporting Red List threat assessments with GeoCAT: geospatial conservation assessment tool. ZooKeys 150:117–126.

BEEKS, R.M. 1955. Improvements in the squash technique for plant chromosomes. Aliso 3:131–133.

CLARK, K., I. KARSCH-MIZRACHI, D.J. LIPMAN, J. OSTELL, & E.W. SAYERS. 2016. GenBank. Nucleic Acids Res. 44:D67–D72. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkv1276

COLQUHOUN, D.J., M.J. BROOKS, L. LEPIONKA, P.A. STONE, A.J.M. PALMER, V. CANOUTS, T.F. MOSLOW, P.J. GLEASON, W.H. ABBOTT, & J.G. BROWN. 1981. Variation in sea level on the South Carolina coastal plain. Department of Geology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, U.S.A.

DRAPER, T.M. & T.C. ESQUE. 2021. A new species of Helianthus (Asteraceae) from Clark County, Nevada. Mandroño 68:52–56. https://doi.org/10.3120/0024-9637-68.1.52

EDGAR, R.C. 2022. Muscle5: High-accuracy alignment ensembles enable unbiased assessments of sequence homology and phylogeny. Nature Commun. 13:6968.

ENGLAND, B.B. 2017. Does browsing matter? Predation and population declines in the federally endangered Schweinitz’s sunflower (Helianthus schweinitzii). Graduate Theses 73. Available at: https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/graduatetheses/73

FABER-LANGENDOEN, D., J. NICHOLS, L. MASTER, K. SNOW, A. TOMAINO, R. BITTMAN, G. HAMMERSON, B. HEIDEL, L. RAMSAY, A. TEUCHER, & B. YOUNG. 2012. NatureServe Conservation Status Assessments: Methodology for Assigning Ranks. NatureServe, Arlington, VA, U.S.A.

FOX, S.J., L. EBERTH, J.B. FLOYD, C. PEDERSON, L. STAFFORD, N. TILLMANS, L. VODO, A.B. MORRIS. 2024. The importance of understanding clonal structure for species listing and recovery: case studies from the rare Oconee bells (Shortia brevistyla and Shortia galacifolia; Diapensi-aceae) and the federally endangered bunched arrowhead (Sagittaria fasciculata; Alismataceae). Conservation Genet. 25:849–868. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-024-01608-8

GODFREY, R.K. & J.W. WOOTEN. 1981. Aquatic and wetland plants of the southeastern United States: dicotyledons. University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA.

GOHN, G.S. 1988. Late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic geology of the Atlantic Coastal Plain: North Carolina to Florida. In: R.E. Sheridan & J.A. Grow, eds. The Atlantic continental margin: U.S. The geology of North America. Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A. 1–2: 107–130. https://doi.org/10.1130/DNAG-GNA-I2.107

HEISER, C.B., W.C. MARTIN, & D.M. SMITH. 1962. Species crosses in Helianthus: I. Diploid species. Brittonia 14:137–147. https://doi.org/10.2307/2805218

HEISER, C.B., D.M. SMITH, S.B. CLEVENGER, & W.C. MARTIN. 1969. The North American sunflowers (Helianthus). Mem. Torrey Bot. Club 22:1–218.

INATURALIST. Available from https://inaturalist.org. Accessed Oct 2021–January 2024.

JMP STATISTICAL DISCOVERY LLC. 2022–2023. JMP® 16 Basic Analysis. JMP Statistical Discovery LLC, Cary, NC, U.S.A.

KARTESZ, J.T. 2015. The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). North American Plant Atlas. (http://bonap.net/napa). Chapel Hill, N.C., U.S.A. [maps generated from Kartesz, J.T. 2015. Floristic Synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP).

KEIL, D.J. & M.A. ELVIN. 2014. Helianthus inexpectatus (Asteraceae), a tetraploid perennial new species from southern California. Aliso 28:59–62. https://doi.org/10.5642/aliso.20102801.05

LEBLOND, R.J. 2001. Endemic plants of the Cape Fear Arch region. Castanea 66:83–97.

LEBLOND, R.J., B.A. SORRIE, & S.C. CARR. 2024. Proposal of three new species of Dichanthelium from fire-maintained pinelands of northeastern Florida, eastern North Carolina, and North Andros Island (The Bahamas). In: Weakley, A.S., et al. 2024.

LEGRAND, H.E., B.A. SORRIE, & T. HOWARD. 2021. Vascular plants of North Carolina. North Carolina Biodiversity Project and North Carolina State Parks. Raleigh, NC. Available at https://auth1.dpr.ncparks.gov/flora/index.php

MCMILLAN, P.D. & R.J. LEBLOND. 2024. Rhynchospora croatanensis, a new species from the outer coastal plain of North Carolina. In: Weakley, A.S., et al. 2024.

MATTHEWS, J.F., L.S. BARDEN, & C.R. MATTHEWS. 1997. Corrections of the chromosome number, distribution and misidentifications of the federally endangered sunflower, Helianthus schweinitzii T&G. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 124:198–209. https://doi.org/10.2307/2996585

MIDWAY, S., M. ROBERTSON, S. FINN, & M. KALLER. 2020. Comparing multiple comparisons: practical guidance for choosing the best multiple comparisons test. PeerJ 8:e10387. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10387

MILLER, M.A., W. PFEIFFER, & T. SCHWARTZ. 2010. Creating the CIPRES Science Gateway for inference of large phylogenetic trees. Proceedings of the Gateway Computing Environments Workshop (GCE), New Orleans, LA: 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1109/GCE.2010.5676129.

NATURESERVE. 1993. NatureServe Explorer [web application]. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available at https://explorer.natureserve.org/.

NATURESERVE. 2020. NatureServe Conservation Status Assessments: Rank Calculator, Version 3.2. NatureServe, Arlington, VA. Available at https://www.natureserve.org/conservation-tools/conservation-rank-calculator

OWENS, G.L., K. HUANG, M. TODESCO, & L.H. RIESEBERG. 2023. Re-evaluating homoploid reticulate evolution in Helianthus sunflowers. Molec. Biol. Evol. 40:msad013. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msad013.

QGIS.ORG. 2024. QGIS Geographic Information System. QGIS Association. http://www.qgis.org

RADFORD, A.E., H.E. AHLES, & C.R. BELL. 1968. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, U.S.A.

RAMBAUT, A., A.J. DRUMMOND, D. XIE, G. BAELE, & M.A. SUCHARD. 2018. Posterior summarization in Bayesian phylogenetics using Tracer 1.7. Syst. Biol. 67:901–904. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syy032

RONQUIST, F., M. TESLENKO, P. VAN DER MARK, D.L. AYRES, A. DARLING, S. HÖHNA, B. LARGET, L. LIU, M.A. SUCHARD, & J.P. HUELSENBECK. 2012. MrBayes 3.2: efficient Bayesian phylogenetic inference and model choice across a large model space. Syst. Biol. 61:539–542. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/sys029

SCHAFALE, M. 2023. Classification of the natural communities of North Carolina. Fourth approximation. North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Raleigh, NC, U.S.A.

SCHILLING, E.E. 1997. Phylogenetic analysis of Helianthus (Asteraceae) based on chloroplast DNA restriction site data. Theor. Appl. Genet. 94:925–933. https://doi.org/10.1007/s001220050497

SCHILLING, E.E. 2006. Helianthus. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (eds.), Flora of North America North of Mexico. Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford, 21:141–169.

SCHILLING, E.E. & C.B. HEISER. 1981. Infrageneric classification of Helianthus (Compositae). Taxon 30:393–403. https://doi.org/10.2307/1220139

SCHILLING, E.E., C.R. LINDER, R.D. NOYES, & L.H. RIESEBERG. 1998. Phylogenetic relationships in Helianthus (Asteraceae) based on nuclear ribosomal DNA. Syst. Bot. 23:177–187. https://doi.org/10.2307/2419587

SCHWARZ, G. 1978. Estimating the dimension of a model. Ann. Statist. 6:461–464. https://doi.org/10.1214/aos/1176344136

SERNEC DATA PORTAL. 2024. https://sernecportal.org/index.php. Accessed October 2021 – January 2024.

SOLTIS, D.E., E.V. MAVRODIEV, J.J. DOYLE. J. RAUSCHER, & P.S. SOLTIS. 2008. ITS and ETS sequence data and phylogeny reconstruction in allopoly-ploids and hybrids. Syst. Bot. 33:7–20. https://doi.org/10.1600/036364408783887401

SOLTIS, D.E., P.S. SOLTIS, D.W. SCHEMSKE, J.F. HANCOCK, J.N. THOMPSON, B.C. HUSBAND, & W.S. JUDD. 2007. Autopolyploidy in angiosperms: have we grossly underestimated the number of species? Taxon 56:13–30. https://doi.org/10.2307/25065732

SORRIE, B.A., & A.S. WEAKLEY. 2001. Coastal plain vascular plant endemics: phytogeographic patterns. Castanea 66:50–82. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0008-7475%28200103%2F06%2966%3A1%2F2%3C50%3ACPVPEP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-B

SORRIE, B.A., R.J. LEBLOND, & A.S. WEAKLEY. 2013. Identification, distribution, and habitat of Coreopsis Section Eublepharis (Asteraceae) and description of a new species. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 7:299–310.

SPRING, O. & E.E. SCHILLING. 1991. The sesquiterpene lactone chemistry of Helianthus sect. Atrorubentes (Asteraceae: Heliantheae). Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 19:59–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-1978(91)90114-F

STAMATAKIS, A. 2014. RAxML version 8: a tool for phylogenetic analysis and post-analysis of large phylogenies. Bioinformatics 30:1312–1313. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btu033

STEBBINS, J.C., C.J. WINCHELL, & J.V.H. CONSTABLE. 2013. Helianthus winteri (Asteraceae), a new perennial species from the southern Sierra Nevada foothills, California. Aliso 31:19–24. https://doi.org/10.5642/aliso.20133101.04

STEPHENS, J.D., W.L. ROGERS, C.M. MASON, L.A. DONOVAN, & R.L. MALMBERG. 2015. Species tree estimation of diploid Helianthus (Asteraceae) using target enrichment. Amer. J. Bot. 102:910–920. https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1500031

SWOFFORD, D.L. 2002. PAUP*: Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony (*and other methods). Version 4. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA.

TIMME, R.E., B.B. SIMPSON, & C.R. LINDER. 2007. High-resolution phylogeny for Helianthus (Asteraceae) using the 18S-26S ribosomal DNA external transcribed spacer. Amer. J. Bot. 94:1837–1852. https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.94.11.1837

U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE. 1994. Schweinitz’s sunflower recovery plan. Atlanta, GA, U.S.A. Pp. 1–28.

WALKER, H.J. & J.M. COLEMAN. 1987. Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Province. In: Graf, W.L., ed. Geomorphic systems of North America. Geological Society of America, Centennial Special Volume 2, Boulder, CO, U.S.A.

WEAKLEY, A.S. (& 30 OTHERS). 2024. Studies in the vascular flora of the Southeastern United States. X. 2024. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 18:17–77.

WEAKLEY, A.S. & SOUTHEASTERN FLORA TEAM. 2024. Flora of the southeastern United States. University of North Carolina Herbarium, North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, U.S.A.

WICHMANN, B.L. & M.L. WOJCIK. 2022. Natural Heritage Program list of the rare plant species of North Carolina, 2022. North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Raleigh, NC, U.S.A.

WUNDERLIN, R.P. & B.F. HANSEN. 2011. Guide to the vascular plants of Florida, Third Edition. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, U.S.A.

Downloads

Published

2024-11-26

How to Cite

Ungberg, E. A., Horn, J. W., Poindexter, D. B., Bradley, K. A., & Weakley, A. S. (2024). Helianthus waccamawensis (Asteraceae), a new species of sunflower endemic to the Cape Fear Arch Region of North and South Carolina (U.S.A.). Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 18(2), 271–291. https://doi.org/10.17348/jbrit.v18.i2.1365