Phylogenomics of the Holoparasitic Plant Genus Hydnora (Hydnoraceae)

Authors

• Sebastian A. Hatt, University of Manchester
• Alice Merrall, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• Jay F. Bolin, Catawba College
• Lytton J. Musselman, Old Dominion UniversityFollow
• Duncan D. Cameron, University of Manchester
• Chris J. Thorogood, University of Oxford
• Alexandre R. Zuntini, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• Olwen M. Grace, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

DOI

10.1007/s00606-026-02027-7

Publication Title

Plant Systematics and Evolution

Volume

312

Issue

6

Pages

57 (14 pp.)

Abstract

Hydnora is a highly unusual genus of holoparasitic plants in the family Hydnoraceae comprising 10 species across Africa and the Middle East. Species concepts and relationships within the genus have historically been poorly defined, in part due to a paucity of morphological characters available for species delimitation. Here, we present the most comprehensively sampled nuclear phylogenomic study of Hydnora to date. We employ the Angiosperms353 target capture approach, using 34 nuclear loci to generate the species tree. Our results provide strong molecular support for all four recently proposed subgenera of Hydnora, demonstrating that even a limited set of morphological traits can be used to delimit lineages within the genus. We estimate ancestral states for these taxonomically informative characters within the Hydnoraceae and provide molecular evidence to clarify some of the long-standing taxonomic uncertainty within the widespread Hydnora abyssinica complex. We analyse gene tree discordance in the results and discuss our results in the context of these conflicting studies. The phylogenetic hypotheses presented here are the most widely sampled to date, and provide a framework for future ecological and evolutionary research into this enigmatic family of parasitic plants.

Rights

© 2026 The Authors.

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Data Availability

Article states: "The data underlying this article are available in the article and in its online Supplementary information. Raw reads are available in ENA (PRJEB XXX [to be filled in on acceptance])."

Original Publication Citation

Hatt, S. A., Merrall, A., Bolin, J. F., Musselman, L. J., Cameron, D. D., Thorogood, C. J., Zuntini, A. R., & Grace, O. M. (2026). Phylogenomics of the holoparasitic plant genus Hydnora (Hydnoraceae). Plant Systematics and Evolution, 312(6), Article 57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-026-02027-7

Repository Citation

Hatt, Sebastian A.; Merrall, Alice; Bolin, Jay F.; Musselman, Lytton J.; Cameron, Duncan D.; Thorogood, Chris J.; Zuntini, Alexandre R.; and Grace, Olwen M., "Phylogenomics of the Holoparasitic Plant Genus Hydnora (Hydnoraceae)" (2026). Biological Sciences Faculty Publications. 712.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/biology_fac_pubs/712