Format: ORAL

Mason C. McNair1, Caitlyn Hughes2, James Leebens-Mack2

1 Department of Plant & Environmental Science, Clemson University 2 Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia

The genusCercis, like many genera, is fraught with taxonomic controversy. Circumscriptions of species, subspecies, varieties, and forms of North American taxa are hotly debated in taxonomic and horticultural literature. Common garden assessment of phenotypic variation and documentation of the genetic basis of phenotypic variation can inform taxonomic circumscription. We investigated published delimitations for North AmericanCercistaxa through analysis of phenotypic variation among specimens growing in a common garden (JC Raulston Arboretum, North Carolina State University). In addition, we leveraged an available breeding population for genomic estimation via GWAS and for phenotypic traits that have been used to distinguishCercis canadensisvar.canadensisandCercis canadensisvar.texensis. By combining phenotypic information with an understanding of the genetic basis of key taxonomic traits, we illustrate how a pluralistic and integrative approach to taxon delimitation can yield rigorous and reproducible species and infraspecific taxonomic concepts.