H. littoralis, now H. caribaea
ConroeJoe@aol.com (Sun, 20 Jun 2004 10:06:58 PDT)

Hi Gang,

I'm happy with the collective wisdom of this group, but have to give a nod to
K. Preuss. That was a fast, and apparently accurate, ID and it was based on
text only (no photo).

Here is a photo of H. caribaea, and it is an exact match for my plant, a
photo of H. caribaea, the leaves are a perfect match too (even the tips, texture,
etc.).
http://cambridge2000.com/gallery/html/…

The more I read about Hymenocallis it seems as though the US populations (and
maybe others) could have exploded north after the last ice age, occupying
numerous new habitats and locations. This could explain why species boundaries
are fuzzy sometimes; they are still working it out themselves.

USA and northern Mexico populations of Oak, Opuntia, Agave and other genera
can also be explained by the "explosion out of Mexico" theory. The problem of
course is that such groups don't fit into neat species definitions.
Hybridization, recombination, and hybrid dysgenesis-type events, can all scramble
lineages. It is quite easy for plant groups hybridize with cousin species and for
the resultant progeny to then exchange DNA with grandparent species.
Interpretation of DNA data is dependent upon the assumption of having a correct
molecular clocks, an assumption that seem impossible to make when plants won't
behave. I'm reminded of the song, "I'm my own grandpa."

Cordially,

C.J. A 30-50% chance of rain predicted all week, daytime 90-95 F

LINKS

Tree of Life Web Project
http://tolweb.org/tree/phylogeny.html

Some Definitions of Species
http://www.adera.be/fish/whatspecies.html

Assumptions of Molecular Phylogney

http://genome.uc.edu/genome/HelpPages/…

Lyrics, I'm My Own Grandpa
http://geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/…