Paepalanthus is a diverse monocot genus with remarkable diversity distributed in the Neotropical highlands of South America. The genus comprises 410 species arranged in subgenera, sections, subsections and series. Added to this complex classification, Paepalanthus shows considerable morphological heterogeneity and includes three other genera in it, Actinocephalus (Körn.) Sano, Lachnocaulon Kunth and Tonina Aubl. A broadly sampled phylogenetic inference for the genus is still missing, precluding a better understanding of its delimitation and further studies in the group. Here we present the most comprehensive phylogenetic study for Paepalanthus to date, as well as morphological survey of characters that delimit the main lineages found. We assembled a morphologically and geographically representative sampling of Paepalanthus and associated genera comprising 356 accessions in a combined dataset of plastid (trnL-F, psbA-trnH) and nuclear (ITS, ETS) regions. Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood methods were used for phylogenetic reconstruction. We found that Paepalanthus and 16 of its 28 infrageneric categories are not monophyletic, as well as the closely related genus Actinocephalus. Thirty-six well-supported clades are recognized. Morphological characters show high levels of homoplasy, and concepts traditionally used in the classification of Paepalanthus were found to be inconsistent. We confirmed that Paepalanthus as currently circumscribed is not monophyletic and revealed several new relationships in Eriocaulaceae. To make Paepalanthus monophyletic, the genus must be re-circumscribed. These results also provide a foundation for future investigations of the diversification and evolution of flora of the Neotropical highlands of South America.

中文翻译：

---

的系统发育Paepalanthus（谷精草科），一个不同的新热带单子叶植物谱系

Paepalanthus是一种多样的单子叶植物属，在南美新热带高地分布着显着的多样性。该属包括410个属，分为亚属，科，小科和系列。除此复杂分类外，Paepalanthus还显示出相当大的形态异质性，其中包括其他三个属：Actinocephalus（Körn。）Sano，Lachnocaulon Kunth和Tonina Aubl。该属的广泛的系统发育推论仍然缺少，这妨碍了对该界线的更好理解和对该小组的进一步研究。在这里，我们提出了最全面的系统发育研究Paepalanthus迄今为止，以及对界定主要谱系的字符进行形态学调查。我们组装了形态和地理上具有代表性的Paepalanthus和相关属的采样，包括质体（trnL-F，psbA-trnH）和核（ITS，ETS）区域的组合数据集中的356个种。贝叶斯推断和最大似然方法用于系统发育重建。我们发现Paepalanthus及其28个属下物种中的16个不是单系的，也不是紧密相关的Actinocephalus属。识别出36个支撑良好的进化枝。形态特征显示出高水平的同质性，传统上用于分类的概念发现Paepalanthus是不一致的。我们确认目前受限制的Paepalanthus不是单系的，并且揭示了鸢尾科中的几个新关系。为了使Paepalanthus具有单系性，必须重新划分属。这些结果也为将来对南美新热带高地植物区系的多样化和进化的研究提供了基础。