Phenetic analysis shows conspecificity between Hispaniolan Viola domingensis Urban and North American Viola macloskeyi sensu lato (Violaceae)

Phenetic investigations were undertaken to evaluate differences between the cloud forest endemic Viola domingensis of the Dominican Republic and the m orphologically similar V. macloskeyi of continental North America. Cluster, principal components (PCA), and canonical variates analyses (CVA) of leaf characters and of ratios derived from them consistently separate V. maclosk eyi subsp. macloskeyi of the Pacific states from V domingensis and transcon tinental V macloskeyi subsp. pallens. However, all analyses portray the lat ter two as extensively intergradient extremes of a continuum, with V doming ensis plants tending to be smaller. Phenetic analyses of capsule and seed f eatures, which are often divergent among other species of subsect. Stolonos ae, show V. domingensis to be nested within a broader V. macloskeyi subsp. pallens. Similarly, floral morphology does not provide observable differenc es between the pair. Results support the synonymy of V. domingensis under V . macloskeyi subsp. pallens and reveal that it represents a disjunct outlie r of an otherwise continental North American violet.