Hybridization and insect pollination are widely believed to increase rates of plant diversification. The extreme diversity of figs (Ficus) and their obligate pollinators, fig wasps (Agaonidae), provides an opportunity to examine the possible role of pollinator-mediated hybridization in plant diversification. Increasing evidence suggests that pollinator sharing and hybridization occurs among fig...

Astragalus (Fabaceae), the largest genus of plants in the world with an estimated 3270 species, is known for large numbers of rare endemic species. An inventory of patterns of climatic, topographic, and edaphic diversity of Astragalus taxa in California (98 native species and 144 named taxa) provides a means to understand the occurrence of rarity in relation to climatic equitability and regiona...

To comply with the new phylogeny within the Surirellales as supported by molecular and morphological data, re-evaluations and re-combinations of taxa from and within the genera Surirella, Cymatopleura, and Stenopterobia and with the re-established genus Iconella are necessary. Since the African diatom flora is rich with taxa from these genera, especially Iconella, and the authors have studied t...

BACKGROUND Phylogenies are essential to many areas of biology, but phylogenetic methods may give incorrect estimates under some conditions. A potentially common scenario of this type is when few taxa are sampled and terminal branches for the sampled taxa are relatively long. However, the best solution in such cases (i.e., sampling more taxa versus more characters) has been highly controversial....

three species of tuberculina viz. t. persicina, t. sbrozzii and t. maxima are newly reported from iran. information about distribution and host range of species is provided. each species is re-described and illustrated by photomicrographs. a key for reported taxa is also provided.

cercosporoid fungi including the genus cercospora and other morphologically similar genera are associated with leaf spot symptoms on various host plants. in this research three taxa including passalora cucurbiticola (on cucurbita sp.), p. bolleana (on ficus carica), and pseudocercosporella capsellae (on capsella bursa-pastoris, sinapis arvensis) were identified. among these, p. cucurbiticola an...

In the course of a survey during growing seasons of 2002-04, various fields and pastures in 23 Iranian provinces were sampled. Some 1200 isolates of Fusarium from root, crown, stem and spike of various plants belonging to the family Poaceae were recovered using Nash-Snyder selective medium and purified on potato dextrose agar (PDA). Based on morphological characters, 35 Fusarium species were id...