• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.149-162
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• 2016

Five species of the genus Leontopodium are recognized in Korea, but their taxonomic positions have been controversial. To clarify the taxonomic entity of these Korean species, we examined their morphological characters based on herbarium specimens and field observations. Valuable distinguishing characters for identification included the plant height, the basal shape of cauline leaves, the type and position of inflorescence, the types of hairs, the presence of leaves at the anthesis, and hairs on the phyllaries. Based on our observations, we were able to determine the taxonomic relationships between L. japonicum and its relatives, L. coreanum and L. hallaisanense. We also included the morphological characters of L. seorakensis in continuous variations of L. leiolepis, which we treated as synonyms. Consequently, we classified these Korean Leontopodium species into four taxa - L. coreanum var. coreanum, L. coreanum var. hallaisanense, L. leiolepis, and L. leontopodioides - with appropriate descriptions and illustrations.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.68-71
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• 2015

Korean L. leiolepis of the genus Leontopodium could be discriminate from the foreign L. alpinum using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Among the 12 URP markers used for the detection, the URP-5 marker and the URP-7 marker detected polymorphic DNA bands, ranging from 400-1000 bp in the size of amplified DNA fragments.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.157-160
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• 2012

Leontopodium seorakensis (Asteraceae), a new species from Mt. Seorak National Park in central Korea is described and illustrated. Its taxonomic history, distribution, habitats, and diagnostic characteristics are discussed and contrasted with those of the closely related L. japonicum Miquel and L. leiolepis Nakai.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.153-156
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• 2010

The somatic chromosome number of four Korean species of Leontopodium were investigated. The chromosome number of L. leiolepis (2n = 24) is reported here as for the first time. The chromosome number of L. japonicum (2n = 28) is not varied among the 3 populations on the Korean Peninsula, but that condition is different from the previous reports for Korea (2n = 26) and Japan (2n = 21, 26). L. hallaisanense and L. japonicum, both of which are in sect. Nobilia and similar to each other in gross morphology, have the same chromosome number of 2n = 28. On the other hand the chromosome number of Korean L. leontopodioides (2n = 24) is different from that in Russian reports (2n = 26). The chromosome numbers of all Korean species of the genus Leontopodium could be inferred as tetraploid or aneuploid.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.314-325
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• 2016

Multiple changes of the photosynthesis pathway are independent evolutionary events occurring in the phylogeny of flowering plants, and such changes have occurred more than five times in Cyperaceae. In the tribe Cypereae, the C4 photosynthetic pathway appeared only once and is regarded as a synapomorphy of the C4 plants within this tribe. The morphological delimitation of genera within Cypereae does not correspond to their molecular phylogenetic relationships. In this study, the molecular phylogeny was compared with the photosynthetic pathways of Korean Cypereae (18 species of Cyperus, 1 species of Kyllinga, and 1 species of Lipocarpha). The photosynthetic pathways were determined by observing the leaf anatomy. The phylogenetic analysis was performed using three DNA regions (nrITS, rbcL, and trnL-F). According to the position of the photosynthetic tissue, 4 species (C. difformis, C. flaccidus, C. haspan, and C. tenuispica) and 16 species (14 Cyperus species, K. brevifolia var. leiolepis, and L. microcephala) were confirmed as C3 and C4 plants, respectively. Tribe Cypereae was divided into the CYPERUS and FICINIA clades, and all species of Korean Cypereae plants belonged to the CYPERUS clade in the phylogenetic analysis. Within the CYPERUS clade, C4 plants were monophyletic but their phylogenetic relationships were unclear. The genera Kyllinga and Lipocarpha were not supported as an independent genus in either case because they were nested by the Cyperus species in the molecular phylogenetic trees in the present and in previous studies. To determine the classification within the CYPERUS clade, a detailed morphological study and a molecular phylogenetic analysis at a high resolution will be necessary.