EVOLUTION OF FLOWER SHAPE IN VERONICEAE (SCROPHULARIACEAE)

Floral evolution in the tribe Veroniceae was examined using phylogenet ic analysis combining 24 adult morphology and chromosome number charac ters with 22 qualitative and quantitative floral development character s. Taxa sampled included nine species of Veroniceae and as an outgroup one species each of Digitaleae and Verbasceae. Veronica, Besseya, and Synthyris formed one clade, subtended by Pseudolysimachion and then b y the Hebe group; Veronicastrum or Wulfenia represent the basal-most b ranch of the tribe. The ancestral flowers of the Veroniceae may have b een small with moderately short corolla tubes and lobes; long corolla tubes arose four times in the tribe and large corolla lobes twice.