Gagea sect. Dschungaricae Levichev

Zarrei, Mehdi, Wilkin, Paul, Ingrouille, Martin J. & Chase, And Mark W., 2011, A revised infrageneric classification for Gagea Salisb. (Tulipeae; Liliaceae): insights from DNA sequence and morphological data, Phytotaxa 15, pp. 44-56 : 48

Gagea sect. Dschungaricae Levichev

This small section with c. 3 species was described in Peterson et al. (2008) to encompass those species having a branched inflorescence with alternate phyllotaxis (for a detailed morphological character data, see Peterson et al. 2008). The only member of this section included in analyses of nrITS and plastid sequences in Peterson et al. (2008), G. dschungarica , is sister to species of G. sect. Stipitatae in our studies. It was placed in G. sect. Monophyllos Pascher subsection Minimae Pascher by Stroh (1937), which is also sister to G. kunawurensis (= G. sect. Stipitatae) in analyses conducted by Zarrei et al. (2009). Pedicel anatomy (type II) is shared by G. dschungarica and G. kunawurensis . However, basal leaf anatomy (type II) in G. dschungarica is similar to that of G. lutea . and G. confusa . Gagea dschungarica has been grouped with G. caroli-kochii and G. bulbifera because of its microreticulate pollen type ( Zarrei & Zarre 2005). However, G. dschungarica has morphological characters distinct from G. kunawurensis and related taxa. Thus, establishment of a new section is not appropriate, and it should be placed in a more broadly defined section that includes all members in clade D in Figure 4 of Zarrei et al. (2009).