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Title: The typification of Zamia erosa and the priority of that name over Z. amblyphyllidia

Author
item CALONJE, MICHAEL - MONTG. BOTANIC. CENTER
item Meerow, Alan
item STEVENSON, DENNIS - N.Y. BOTANICA GARDEN

Submitted to: Taxon
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/20/2010
Publication Date: 4/5/2010
Citation: Calonje, M., Meerow, A.W., Stevenson, D.W. 2010. The typification of Zamia erosa and the priority of that name over Z. amblyphyllidia. Taxon. 59(2) April 2010:637-642.

Interpretive Summary: We show that proper name for a Puerto Rican cycad species is Zamia erosa O.F Cook and G.N Collins, not Zamia amblyphyllidia D.W. Stev. and discuss the nomenclatural history of the species.

Technical Abstract: Three distinctive cycads are found on Puerto Rico, which have been treated as three species: Z. amblyphyllidia, found on the north coast, and Z. portoricensis and Z. pumila, both found in the south. We investigated the population genetics of these species with ten DNA markers across seven populations, three each of the former two, and one of Z. pumila. Puerto Rican zamias exhibit a combination of the patterns of genetic differentiation that have been reported for cycads based on other types of markers. High genetic variation within populations is the rule for all three. Zamia amblyphyllidia exhibits a more than fivefold greater degree of population differentiation than Z. portoricensis, among whose populations gene flow is much higher. Zamia ambliphyllidia has a greater number of unique alleles; Z. pumila has none. Overall, a strong pattern of isolation by distance is evident among Puerto Rican Zamia populations. Significant inbreeding is evident in Z. pumila and two populations of Z. amblyphyllidia, which may be a cause for concern from a conservation perspective.