Format: ORAL

Derick B. Poindexter1 Alan S. Weakley1

1 North Carolina Botanical Garden (Herbarium NCU), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA

Despite its long history of botanical exploration, the Southeastern United States still has much novel biodiversity to yield, as evidenced by the large number of new taxa described over the past 50 years nearly 10% of the recognized native flora. Contemporary molecular tools, in conjunction with traditional systematic techniques, have made this continued advancement possible, particularly concerning difficult species complexes. Furthermore, many of these ongoing studies focus on long-recognized problematic groups, historically neglected due to the perceived need for extensive time and financial investments. As these rate-limiting factors lessen (e.g. NGS sequencing costs decrease), we are encouraged to pursue these sidelined studies with a collective evidence approach. This effort utilizes multiple data sources (molecular, cytogenetic, ecological, biogeographic, etc.) to help guide our ultimate taxonomic interpretations. While this approach is not conceptually novel, the power of current technologies to help aid this process is, and an approach that regionally targets known research needs is atypical in a world in which research funding tends to drive research by plant family. Our lab is actively pursuing resolution in a number of clades within taxonomic disparate genera including Allium (Alliaceae), Astragalus (Fabaceae), Blephilia (Lamiaceae), Carex(Cyperaceae), Eryngium (Apiaceae), Helianthus, Marshallia, and Packera (Asteraceae), Micranthes(Saxifragaceae), and Thalictrum (Ranunculaceae). We will use select examples from these groups to illustrate the case-by-case nuances encountered during our systematic assessments, as well as discuss the regional and global implications of our findings.