Phymasperminae Oberpr. & Himmelr.

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 : 126-127

6. Phymasperminae Oberpr. & Himmelr. in Willdenowia 37: 99. 2007. – Type: Phymaspermum Less. ( Phymaspermum junceum Less. ).

Description — Shrubs or shrublets. Indumentum absent or of basifixed hairs. Leaves opposite or alternate, entire to lobed. Capitula solitary or in lax corymbs, radiate or discoid. Involucre hemispheric to spheric, rarely cylindric to obconic. Phyllaries in 2–4 rows, with scarious, sometimes ciliate margins. Receptacle flat to conic, epaleate, sometimes paleate ( Eumorphia , occasionally in Gymnopentzia ); paleae linear canaliculate. Ray florets female; limb white, yellow or purplish. Disc florets hermaphrodite; corolla 5-lobed; anthers with polarized endothecial tissue and a slender filament collar. Achenes cylindric or ellipsoid, terete with 10–12(–18) ribs; apex truncate or with an entire to dentate, thickened rim or corona; pericarp papillose, without myxogenic cells or resin sacs (in Phymaspermum with ovoid myxogenic trichomes and resin sacs in some of ribs). Embryo sac development and base chromosome number unknown.

Distribution — South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Namibia.

Members — Eumorphia DC. (6), Gymnopentzia Benth. (1), Phymaspermum Less. (17).

Notes — Apart from the strange but unsupported position of one of its members (i.e. Phymaspermum ) in the cpDNA gene tree (Fig. 1), the monophyly of this subtribe is corroborated by the other phylogenetic reconstructions ( Fig. 2, 3, 4). Closer relationships appear to exist with the Athanasiinae , with which the Phymasperminae share the possession of anthers with polarized endothecial tissue and a slender filament collar. However, since even inclusion of its three members into a broader circumscribed Athanasiinae would not make the latter subtribe monophyletic, we suggest keeping this small generic assemblage in a subtribe of its own. Revisionary work done by Swelankomo (2011) for Eumorphia and Ruiters & al. (2016) for Phymaspermum updated the species numbers given in the present account.

II. Asian-southern African grade