Articles
ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF ERIOBOTRYA
Article number
887_2
Pages
33 – 37
Language
English
Abstract
The origin, route of dispersal and evolution of Eriobotrya was hypothesized based on identified fossils, pollen morphology and chromosome number.
The evolutionary sequence of Rosaceae is suggested to be: Spiraeoideae, Rosaceae, Maloideae and then Prunoideae.
Spiraeoideae, the primitive specie of Rosaceae, first appeared in the Northeast China during the Late Cretaceous Period. Rosaceae occurred Southward in Liaoning Province during the Early Eocene.
Maloideae was first found further southward in Gansu Province and south Shanxi in the middle reaches of the Yellow River.
The genus Sorbus (Maloideae), based on its first appearance and location, is considered to be the ancestor of Eriobotrya. Until the Miocene, a great number of Maloideae including Eriobotrya were distributed in Hebei and Shandong provinces located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River valley.
However, because of the drier and cooler climate during the Pliocene, Eriobotrya receded to the subtropical regions of the Yangtze River valley and disappeared from the Yellow River basin. Eriobotrya could have migrated from the middle reaches of the Yellow River valley to the region ranging from south Qinling mountains to Heduan mountains where some representative species formed including E. japonica, E. cavaleriei, E. fragrans, E. elliptica, E. prinoides var. dadunensis. Some of these species, such as E. elliptica and E. fragrans, first appeared before the period when the Himalayas uplifted less than 1000 m and extended westward to Tibet, China, Nepal, and India.
On the other hand, other species were further distributed southward to the Three Parallel Rivers of west Yunnan.
The species E. japonica and E. cavaleriei, extended southeast along the Jinsha River toward the Yangtze River, then toward the East China Sea and even to Japan.
To the south, along the Salvin River and the Lancang (Mekong River), E. salwinensis Hand-Mazz and E. tenyuehensis W.W.Smith might derive in the area of Mountain Gongga in Gao Li.
These species have evolved into other species after entering Myanmar.
The second large-scale evolution of Eriobotrya plants happened in the vicinity of central Yunnan and southeastern Yunnan where this genus evolved more than 10 species, including E. obovata W.W.Smith, E. henryi Nakai, E. malipoensis Kuan.
They were distributed in three directions, one was along the Lancang River (Mekong River) into Laos, the other along the Yuanjiang River (Red River) to Vietnam and the last one along the border of Guizhou and Guangxi to enter Guangxi, Guangdong, and then Hainan and Taiwan.
The evolutionary sequence of Rosaceae is suggested to be: Spiraeoideae, Rosaceae, Maloideae and then Prunoideae.
Spiraeoideae, the primitive specie of Rosaceae, first appeared in the Northeast China during the Late Cretaceous Period. Rosaceae occurred Southward in Liaoning Province during the Early Eocene.
Maloideae was first found further southward in Gansu Province and south Shanxi in the middle reaches of the Yellow River.
The genus Sorbus (Maloideae), based on its first appearance and location, is considered to be the ancestor of Eriobotrya. Until the Miocene, a great number of Maloideae including Eriobotrya were distributed in Hebei and Shandong provinces located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River valley.
However, because of the drier and cooler climate during the Pliocene, Eriobotrya receded to the subtropical regions of the Yangtze River valley and disappeared from the Yellow River basin. Eriobotrya could have migrated from the middle reaches of the Yellow River valley to the region ranging from south Qinling mountains to Heduan mountains where some representative species formed including E. japonica, E. cavaleriei, E. fragrans, E. elliptica, E. prinoides var. dadunensis. Some of these species, such as E. elliptica and E. fragrans, first appeared before the period when the Himalayas uplifted less than 1000 m and extended westward to Tibet, China, Nepal, and India.
On the other hand, other species were further distributed southward to the Three Parallel Rivers of west Yunnan.
The species E. japonica and E. cavaleriei, extended southeast along the Jinsha River toward the Yangtze River, then toward the East China Sea and even to Japan.
To the south, along the Salvin River and the Lancang (Mekong River), E. salwinensis Hand-Mazz and E. tenyuehensis W.W.Smith might derive in the area of Mountain Gongga in Gao Li.
These species have evolved into other species after entering Myanmar.
The second large-scale evolution of Eriobotrya plants happened in the vicinity of central Yunnan and southeastern Yunnan where this genus evolved more than 10 species, including E. obovata W.W.Smith, E. henryi Nakai, E. malipoensis Kuan.
They were distributed in three directions, one was along the Lancang River (Mekong River) into Laos, the other along the Yuanjiang River (Red River) to Vietnam and the last one along the border of Guizhou and Guangxi to enter Guangxi, Guangdong, and then Hainan and Taiwan.
Publication
Authors
G.F. Li, Z.K. Zhang, S.Q. Lin
Keywords
loquat, taxonomy
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