Geranium subsect. Mediterranea (Geraniaceae) esta´ formada por diez especies. El Ca´ucaso es la regio´n ma´s rica con cinco especies ende´micas, pero alguna alcanza incluso el oeste de Europa y noroeste de A´ frica. En este estudio consideramos G. montanum, y G. ibericum subsp. jubatum como sino´nimos de G. ibericum. Un ana´lisis morfome´trico permitio´ evaluar los caracteres cuantitativos y seleccionar los ma´s adecuados para la clave de identificacio´n. Se investigaron tambie´n las caracterı´sticas micromorfolo´gicas del polen, el estigma, la semilla y el mericarpo. Se presenta una nueva clave, ası´ como nuevas y detalladas descripciones y mapas de distribucio´n para cada una de las especies y se eligen once lecto´ tipos. Geranium kurdicum es aquı´ dibujado por primera vez. Ana´lisis de ma´xima parsimonia y bayesianos de las regiones ITS riboso´mica nuclear y trnL-trnF cloropla´stica sugieren que la sect. Mediterranea es monofile´tica. Se recuperan dos clados principales, uno con las especies anuales y otro con las perennes entre las que se incluye G. tuberosum (subsect. Tuberosa) dentro de una subsect. Mediterranea parafile´tica.

Geranium subsect. Mediterranea (Geraniaceae) consists of ten species. The highest diversity of the group is located in the Caucasus and neighbouring areas of Turkey and Iran, with five endemic species. Other species reach western Europe and northwestern Africa. In contrast to the current literature, we consider G. montanum and G. ibericum subsp. jubatum to be synonyms of G. ibericum. A univariate morphometric study revealed some valuable quantitative characters useful for the identification of these species. Micromorphological features of pollen, stigmas, seeds, and mericarps were investigated by SEM. A new key is provided, as well as new and detailed descriptions. Geranium kurdicum is here illustrated for the first time. Eleven lectotypes are designated, and distribution maps are presented. Maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses of chloroplastic trnL-trnF and ribosomal nuclear ITS regions suggest that sect. Mediterranea is monophyletic. Two clades are recovered, one including the annual species and other with the perennials, in which G. tuberosum (subsect. Tuberosa) emerges within a paraphyletic subsect. Mediterranea.

This work was partly financed by the Spanish Government through the research projects REN2003-00982/GLO, and CGL2004-00172/BOS, and by the European Union through the COLPARSYS program.

Peer reviewed