Morphological and Molecular Cladistic Analyses of Heliobrychis Section (Onobrychis Genus)

Abstract According to Flora Iranica, Heliobrychis section has 21 species. In this study, morphological and molecular cladistic analyses were performed for 29 Onobrychis taxa belong to Heliobrychis section. The result of morphological cladistic analysis indicate that the relationship of O. aucheri subsp. aucheri and O. aucheri subsp. psammophila were resolved (BP=52%), and O. aucheri subsp. teheranica was sister to them with 94% bootstrap support. In molecular cladistic analysis O. aucheri subsp. psammophila and O. aucheri subsp. teheranica were closest subspecies with high bootstrap support (BP=79%) but their relationships with O. aucheri subsp. aucheri were not resolved. In morphological and molecular cladistic analyses, there were no close relationships between O. menaotricha var. melanotricha and O. melanotricha var. villosa and each one formed sister group with other species. So contrast to Rechinger classification,O. melanotricha var. melanotricha and O. melanotricha var. villosa was raised to the rank of species as O. melanotricha and O. villosa. Keywords: Cladistic analyses, O. aucheri, O. psammophila, O. teheranica, O. melanotricha, O. villosa.