https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0225-9812
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ABSTRACT
The taxonomic classification of the recently described Lagochilus lorestanicus within the genus Lagochilus is traditionally based on its morphological characters. We present here a phylogenetic hypothesis for the genus Lagochilus (Lamiaceae, tribe Leonureae) based on plastid (trnL-trnF and matK) and nuclear (ITS) DNA sequence data, using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches. Our analysis indicates that while representative species from the Iranian flora are assembled in a sub-clade nested in the clade Spinosi, L. lorestanicus is retrieved in the Acanthoprasium clade in the tribe Marrubieae. The taxonomic placement of Lagochilus lorestanicus in Acanthoprasium is also corroborated by re-examination of morphological characters. Consequently, the species is transferred to the genus Acanthoprasium, which was previously restricted to Italy and France (i.e. A. frutescens) and Cyprus (i.e. A. integrifolium). The intra-specific morphological variations as well as the conservation status of Lagochilus lorestanicus are discussed.
Acknowledgments
We thank Charalambos Christodoulou (Dept. Forests Cyprus) for advice on locating the samples from Cyprus.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Data availability statement
All DNA sequence data are available in GenBank as soon as manuscript acceptance, and our DNA sequences are available as Online Resource of the journal.
Author contributions
All authors contributed to material preparation. FB and MD carried out the experiments and analyses. FB wrote first draft of the manuscript. FB, MD, and DS contributed to the final version of the manuscript. MM supervised and validated the work and approved the final manuscript.