Floristic analysis and biogeography of Tubiflorae in Egypt

The species distribution and biogeography of the Egyptian Tubiflorae were exam-ined in detail. We found 284 species of vascular plants belonging to 96 genera and 12 families, making the Egyptian Tubiflorae richer in species than that of other arid region floras: Libya and Saudi Arabia. The most species rich families were Scrophulariaceae, Boraginaceae, Labiatae, Convolvulaceae and Solanaceae, constituting more than 85% of the totál species in the order. The generic spectrum dominated by a suite of species-rich genera (Convolvulus, Heliotropium, Veronica, Solanum, Salvia, Cuscuta, Echium, Ipomoea and Orobanche). Therophytes were the most dominant life forms among the families, followed by chamaephytes and hemicryptophytes. Boraginaceae and Scrophulariaceae had the highest share of annuals. Remarkable distribution patterns of the life forms in the seven studied biogeographic zones were noticed. Trees were dominant in the Mediterranean zone, while shrubs, perennial herbs and therophytes were dominant in the Sinai. Altogether 8 endemic species and 14 near-endemics were included in the Tubiflorae of Egypt; mostly from Southern Sinai. We found that Labiatae and Scrophulariaceae were the families with higher concentration of endemics. Notably, Teucrium was among the genera of the Mediterranean Africa with highest endemism. Gamma diversity varied from 171 in the Sinai Peninsula to 43 and 39 in the Oases of the western Desert and along the Red Sea, respectively. Interestingly, highest significant values of similarity and species turnover (béta diversity) were observed between the Oases and the Nile lands. It is worthy noting the com-bined effect of both temperature and precipitation on gamma diversity of Tubiflorae in the 7 biogeographic zones. Our results indicated that almost one-half of the species showed a certain degree of consistency, i.e., with narrow geographic expansion. On the basis of UPGMA clustering and PCoA analysis, 4 floristic groups were recognized, each include one or more biogeographic zone. The occurrence of the species of Tubiflorae in the adjacent régiónál arid floras and their phytochorological afflnities, were discussed

Classification of the Leguminosae-<i>Papilionoideae</i>: A Numerical Re-assessment

The subdivision of the Leguminosae-Papilionoideae into taxa of lower rank was subject for major discrepancies between traditional classifications while more recent phylogenetic studies provided no decisive answer to this problem. As a contribution towards resolving this situation, 81 morphological characters were recorded comparatively for 226 species and infra-specific taxa belonging to 75 genera representing 21 of the 32 tribes currently recognized in this subfamily. The data matrix was subjected to cluster analysis using the Sørensen distance measure and Ward’s clustering method of the PC-ord version-5 package of programs for Windows. This combination was selected from among the 56 combinations available in this package because it produced the taxonomically most feasible arrangement of the genera and species. The 75 genera are divided into two main groups A and B, whose recognition requires little more than the re-alignment of a few genera to resemble tribes 1-18 (Sophoreae to Hedysareae) and tribes 19-32 (Loteae to Genisteae), respectively, in the currently accepted classification. Only six of the 21 tribes represented by two or more genera seem sufficiently robust as the genera representing each of them hold together in only one of the two major groups A and B. Of the 29 genera represented by more than one species each 17, 7 and 5 are taxonomically coherent, nearly coherent and incoherent, respectively. The currently accepted circumscription and inter-relationships among the disrupted tribes and genera are in need of much detailed investigation

Classification of the Leguminosae-&lt;i&gt;Papilionoideae&lt;/i&gt;: A Numerical Re-assessment

The subdivision of the Leguminosae-Papilionoideae into taxa of lower rank was subject for major discrepancies between traditional classifications while more recent phylogenetic studies provided no decisive answer to this problem. As a contribution towards resolving this situation, 81 morphological characters were recorded comparatively for 226 species and infra-specific taxa belonging to 75 genera representing 21 of the 32 tribes currently recognized in this subfamily. The data matrix was subjected to cluster analysis using the Sørensen distance measure and Ward’s clustering method of the PC-ord version-5 package of programs for Windows. This combination was selected from among the 56 combinations available in this package because it produced the taxonomically most feasible arrangement of the genera and species. The 75 genera are divided into two main groups A and B, whose recognition requires little more than the re-alignment of a few genera to resemble tribes 1-18 (Sophoreae to Hedysareae) and tribes 19-32 (Loteae to Genisteae), respectively, in the currently accepted classification. Only six of the 21 tribes represented by two or more genera seem sufficiently robust as the genera representing each of them hold together in only one of the two major groups A and B. Of the 29 genera represented by more than one species each 17, 7 and 5 are taxonomically coherent, nearly coherent and incoherent, respectively. The currently accepted circumscription and inter-relationships among the disrupted tribes and genera are in need of much detailed investigation