Evolution and radiation of the Edelweiss (Leontopodium, Compositae)
Dr. W. BERNHARD DICKORÉ, A. v. Haller Institute of Plant Sciences, Dept. of Systematic Botany, University of
Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, D-37073 Göttingen, bernhard.Dickore@gmx.de
CORDULA BLÖCH, ROSABELLE SAMUEL, TOD STUESSY, Institut für Botanik, Abteilung Systematik und Evolution
Höherer Pflanzen, Universität Wien, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Wien, Austria
The Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum Cass.) occupies an important position in the culture
and symbolism of the European Alps and their natural heritage. The genus Leontopodium
comprises c. 30 species. The main distribution of Leontopodium encompasses an extensive
and largely contiguous area in Central and East Asia. Two taxa occur, widely disjunct, in the
mountains of Central and South Europe (L. alpinum, L. nivale Huet). The taxonomic status of
the European representatives remains questionable, but these are certainly most closlely
related to species of Western Central Asia. Morphological and molecular data support a
primary division of the genus in two broad groups or subgenera; Nobilia, confined to the
Himalayas, China and Japan, and Leontopodium s.str., occurring through most of the genus'
distribution. The East Himalayan monotypic genus Sinoleontopodium (Chen 1985) falls into
Leontopodium (s.str. ). Patterns of diversification and radiation in the genus Leontopodium
provide a model for the evolution of the Central Asiatic and European mountain floras.