Phylogeny of linearia and notata groups of Paspalum L. (Poaceae, Panicoideae, Paniceae) and related species

Genus Paspalum L. comprises approximately 400 species worldwide and about 220 in Brazil. Paspalum is ecologically and economically important, and has been very useful as pasture. Traditionally, taxonomists use informal groups, most of which described by Agnes Chase in 1929. Some groups present a problematic circumscription, this is the case of the Linearia and Notata groups. This work uses a phylogenetic approach to study these groups and related species. DNA sequences from ITS of nuclear rRNA, from chloroplast intergenic spacer psbA-trnH and chloroplast trnL intron were used to perform the analyses. The informal groups studied were considered highly artificial, being the representatives from several informal groups splitted throughout the trees. Only a small core of species from Notata group could be accepted as a good formal clade.