CAPITULUM: The International Compositae Alliance Newsletter

Daisies Down Under: Review of the state of taxonomy and phylogenetics of native Australian Asteraceae

Alexander N. Schmidt-Lebuhn

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7402-8941

DOI: https://doi.org/10.53875/capitulum.01.2.03

Keywords: Australia, phylogenetics, taxonomy, review

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Abstract

Because of the long history of isolation of Australia, the continent is home to a unique diversity of Asteraceae. The
native daisy flora of ca. 1,105 species is dominated by Gnaphalieae, Astereae, Senecioneae, and Inuleae, whereas
other globally diverse tribes such as Cardueae, Cichorieae, or Heliantheae are poorly represented. The last ca. forty
years have seen taxonomic revisions of most major genera of Australian Asteraceae with the notable exceptions
of Olearia and Ozothamnus. Despite this, current genus-level classification is often based on few morphological
characters traditionally considered important (e.g., presence of pappus or capitulum scales). It is therefore likely
that many genera are non-monophyletic in their current circumscriptions, as recently confirmed (e.g., for Coronidium,
Olearia, and Ozothamnus). As of writing, phylogenetic studies of several other taxa are being conducted or under
review. Once phylogenetic relationships have been resolved, the research focus will shift to understanding the
evolution of the continental Asteraceae flora in time and space and the impact of Australia’s aridification and key
evolutionary and biogeographic events on patterns of diversification.