Phylogeographic patterns in the Australasian genus Chionohebe (Veronica s.l., Plantaginaceae) based on AFLP and chloroplast DNA sequences.

The alpine genus Chionohebe is one of seven genera in the southern hemisphere Hebe complex. The main aims of this study were to infer the evolutionary relationships and assess phylogeographic patterns among the six species of Chionohebe, determine the origin of the two species with trans-Tasman distributions, and test species delimitations and specimen identifications based on morphology. Analyses of AFLP data recovered five major lineages within Chionohebe, some of which corresponded to species and varieties as currently circumscribed. Although the cushion chionohebes were strongly supported as monophyletic, the sole non-cushion species, C. densifolia, was sister to Parahebe trifida, and thus the AFLP data do not support a monophyletic Chionohebe as usually circumscribed. Strong north/south and west/east phylogeographic patterns were found among and within the main AFLP lineages in New Zealand. Analyses of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) revealed eight haplotypes in Chionohebe, but these did not correspond to current taxonomy or geography due to widespread interspecific haplotype sharing. Based on both AFLP and cpDNA results, the two trans-Tasman species are shown to have originated in New Zealand and dispersed to Australia independently.