Phylogenetic relationships of Bellevalia species (Asparagaceae), inferred from morphology and molecular systematics

The genus Bellevalia within the Asparagaceae family comprises 76 species distributed across various biogeographical regions. Despite previous taxonomic studies, there remains a gap in understanding the phylogenetic relationships among Bellevalia species. This research was carried out in a situation where many species of this family do not have a special position in the classification, or their position has changed due to the use of different morphological characteristics. In Feinbrun’s monograph in 1939, he used morphological traits such as the shape of the inflorescence, the direction of the peduncle, the color of the peduncle, the ratio of the length of the leaf to the flowerless stem, to separate the sections, sub-sections and species, and the interference of the traits can be seen in the separation of the arrays. On the other hand, it is difficult to refer to the color of fresh flowers in most of the herbarium samples because in these samples, the color of the flower cover gradually turns from yellow-brown to gray and it is difficult to identify them according to the color of dried flowers. It can be stated that due to the overlap between the morphological characteristics and the tendency of flower color to change in dry specimens, the features used by Feinbrun are not informative enough to recognize the circumscription of the sections. The objective is to resolve taxonomic ambiguities and enhance species identification accuracy. Freshly collected samples and herbarium specimens from 15 Bellevalia species were analyzed. Fifteen morphological characteristics, the most important of which are the flower, leaf margin cilia, Inflorescence shape and Capsule shape were recorded. The results identified two major clades in this genus and provide new phylogenetic insights. This is while the previous classifications of this genus, which were based only on morphological characteristics, included 4 to 6 sections. Key numerical outcomes include the clear separation of species, and enhancing taxonomic resolution. This study underscores the significance of integrating morphological and molecular data, presenting a robust framework for future phylogenetic studies within Bellevalia and related taxa.