# The polyphyletic Caucasus-centred Campanula subg. Scapiflorae (Campanulaceae) revisited with a newly circumscribed C. sect. Tridentatae for its core clade

## TL;DR

This study reclassifies a group of alpine plants in the Caucasus, confirming their genetic diversity and introducing a new section for their core group.

## Contribution

A revised classification of the Campanula subg. Scapiflorae group and a newly defined C. sect. Tridentatae for its core clade.

## Key findings

- Molecular analysis confirmed the polyphyly of Campanula subg. Scapiflorae in all its previous circumscriptions.
- The core clade of the group is composed solely of Caucasus endemics and is reclassified as C. sect. Tridentatae.
- Phylogenetic relationships of other elements in the Scapiflorae group are outlined.

## Abstract

Campanula L. is among the genera with the highest number of endemics in the Caucasus ecoregion. A group of attractive alpine and subalpine perennial rosette plants with short single-flowered stems centred in the Caucasus has been treated as Campanulasubg.Scapiflorae or at other ranks, with considerably varying circumscription and classification. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of three plastid DNA regions (trnK/matK, petD, rpl16) of a strongly extended sampling, comprising 23 of the 27 commonly accepted taxa (85%) with 330 accessions built on and guided by the results of our previous study of the group, confirmed the polyphyly of C.subg.Scapiflorae in any of its circumscriptions. The core clade of the group comprises exclusively endemics and near-endemics of the Caucasus and is treated here as C.sect.Tridentatae in a revised circumscription. The phylogenetic relationships of the disparate other elements of the Scapiflorae group are outlined.