Leucantheminae K. Bremer & Humphries

Oberprieler, Christoph, Töpfer, Alisha, Dorfner, Marco, Stock, Miriam & Vogt, Robert, 2022, An updated subtribal classification of Compositae tribe Anthemideae based on extended phylogenetic reconstructions, Willdenowia 52 (1), pp. 117-149 : 132-133

17. Leucantheminae K. Bremer & Humphries in Bull. Nat. Hist. Mus. London, Bot. 23: 136. 1993. – Type: Leucanthemum Mill. ( Leucanthemum vulgare Lam. ).

Description — Annual or perennial herbs, rarely subshrubs ( Leucanthemum , Plagius , Rhodanthemum ). Indumentum absent or of basifixed hairs, rarely of medifixed hairs ( Rhodanthemum ). Leaves alternate or basally opposite, entire, serrate-dentate, lobed or up to 3-pinnatisect. Capitula solitary or in a lax corymb, discoid or radiate. Involucre meniscoid to hemispheric. Phyllaries in 3–5 rows, with narrow to broad scarious margins. Receptacle hemispheric to conic, epaleate. Ray florets female or sterile; limb white, yellow or red ( Rhodanthemum ). Disc florets hermaphrodite; corolla (4 or)5-lobed, basally often saccate and clasping top of achene; anthers with non-polarized endothecial tissue and a balusterform filament collar. Achenes of ray florets ellipsoid, circular in cross-section, with 5–10 ribs, sometimes dorsiventrally flattened, with 3 adaxial ribs and lateral wings ( Daveaua ). Achenes of disc florets ellipsoid, circular in cross-section, with 5–10 ribs, rarely dorsiventrally flattened and with 1 abaxial, 2 lateral and 1–3 adaxial ribs ( Otospermum ); apex marginally rounded or with a scarious and adaxially longer corona, sometimes ( Heteromera ) with a short and basally callose corona or with 5–9 obovate scales; pericarp with myxogenic cells along ribs and with resin canals between ribs, sometimes ( Daveaua , Heteromera ) with 3–5 resin sacs apically in ribs, rarely ( Otospermum ) without any resin ducts. Embryo sac development monosporic. Base chromosome number x = 9.

Distribution — Mediterranean region, Macaronesia, Europe, Asia.

Members — Chlamydophora Ehrenb. ex Less. (1), Chrysanthoglossum B. H. Wilcox & al. (2), Coleostephus Cass. (3), Daveaua Mariz (1), Glossopappus Kunze (1), Heteromera Pomel (2), Leucanthemum Mill. (43), Mauranthemum Vogt & Oberprieler (4), Otospermum Willk. (1), Plagius L’Hèr. ex DC. (3), Rhodanthemum B. H. Wilcox & al. (14).

Notes — Dating back to analyses of nrDNA ITS sequence variation in Oberprieler (2004b), the inclusion of Daveaua , Heteromera and Otospermum into subtribe Leucantheminae has been evident but was never formalized thereafter ( Oberprieler & al. 2007, 2009). This was mainly due to the distinctness of the achene-anatomically well-circumscribed generic assemblage around the core genus Leucanthemum with its apomorphic character state of achenes with resin canals and vascular bundles between the ribs, which is lacking in the three mentioned genera. Here, achenes are 5-ribbed and ribs contain vascular bundles, while Daveaua and Heteromera also share the possession of resin ducts in the apical portions of ribs and of dorsiventrally flattened achenes of ray florets ( Giroux 1930; Oberprieler 2004b). With the inclusion of Daveaua , Heteromera and Otospermum in the Leucantheminae , as suggested again by our phylogenetic analyses based on the now more comprehensive dataset, the morphological circumscription of the subtribe becomes more heterogeneous; however, it avoids the erecting of uninformative, unigeneric subtribal units where there is a clear evolutionary pattern.