Athroismeae

Bengtson, Annika & Razafimandimbison, Sylvain G., 2024, New subtribal and generic limits in the tribe Athroismeae (Asteraceae) and further disintegration of the subtribe Madagasterinae of the tribe Astereae, Willdenowia 54 (1), pp. 103-116 : 111

Implications on the subtribal classification of the tribe Athroismeae

Athroismeae sensu Bengtson & al. (2021) is currently divided into four morphologically distinct subtribes: Anisopappinae , Athroisminae , Lowryanthinae and Symphyllocarpinae ; in addition to this, the tribe also contains the unplaced monospecific Anisochaeta ( Bengtson & al. 2017). The subtribe Lowryanthinae is endemic to Madagascar and now encompasses the broadly defined Apodocephala (including Lowryanthus ). The subtribe has earlier been placed as sister to subtribe Athroisminae ( Bengtson & al. 2017, 2021). Similar obcompressed carbonized asymmetrically rostrate cypselas, and cypselas with long marginal and apical twin hairs, occur in members of both subtribes ( Humbert 1960; Eriksson 1990, 1992, 1995; Pruski 2014), and this is also what first led Pruski (2014) to place Lowryanthus in Athroismeae . These characters are, however, not found in Jalantzia (Vernoniopsis) . Phylogenetic analyses place Jalantzia here as sister to subtribe Lowryanthinae as defined by Bengtson & al. (2021), and the morphological similarities to Apodocephala support the position of Jalantzia as close to Lowryanthinae . Jalantzia , however, differs from the members of Lowryanthinae in having epaleate receptacles and a true pappus of scabrid bristles, and we have therefore chosen not to include this Malagasy genus in subtribe Lowryanthinae but instead to describe a new subtribe, Jalantziinae , to accommodate Jalantzia .