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This work has been supported by a Spanish Government grant project CGL005-25122-E to J. A. Devesa, a co-funded Spanish Aragón Government and European Social Fund grant to the University of Zaragoza BIOFLORA research group, and a BBVA Foundation post-doctorate fellowship to E. Pérez-Collazos., Valerianella (cornsalad) is a taxonomically complex genus formed by 50–65 annual Holarctic species classified into at least four main sections. Carpological traits (sizes and shapes of achenes and calyx teeth) have been used to characterize its sections and species. However, the potential systematic value of these traits at different taxonomic ranks (from sections to species (and infraspecific taxa)) has not been tested phylogenetically yet. Here, we have assessed the evolutionary systematic value of Valerianella diagnostic carpological traits at different hierarchical ranks and have demonstrated their ability to separate taxa at the sectional level but not at species level for species of several species pairs. A total of 426 individuals (17 species, 4 sections) of Valerianella were analyzed using AFLP and plastid data. Genetic clusters, phylogenetic trees, and haplotype networks support the taxonomic classification of Valerianella at the four studied sectional levels (V. sects. Valerianella, Cornigerae, Coronatae, Platycoelae) but show admixture for ten taxa from five species pairs (V. locusta—V. carinata, V. coronata—V. pumila, V. multidentata—V. discoidea, V. dentata—V. rimosa, V. eriocarpa—V. microcarpa), which are not reciprocally monophyletic. Dating analyses indicate that the Valerianella sections are relatively old (mid-Miocene), while most species diverged in the Pliocene–Pleistocene. A new section Valerianella sect. Stipitae is described to accommodate the highly divergent and taxonomically distinct V. fusiformis type species. Taxonomic treatments that recognize the sectional ranks and that subsume the separate species of each species pair into single species represent a natural classification for Valerianella., Depto. de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Fac. de Ciencias Biológicas, TRUE, pub

Valerianella (cornsalad) is a taxonomically complex genus formed by 50–65 annual Holarctic species classified into at least four main sections. Carpological traits (sizes and shapes of achenes and calyx teeth) have been used to characterize its sections and species. However, the potential systematic value of these traits at different taxonomic ranks (from sections to species (and infraspecific taxa)) has not been tested phylogenetically yet. Here, we have assessed the evolutionary systematic value of Valerianella diagnostic carpological traits at different hierarchical ranks and have demonstrated their ability to separate taxa at the sectional level but not at species level for species of several species pairs. A total of 426 individuals (17 species, 4 sections) of Valerianella were analyzed using AFLP and plastid data. Genetic clusters, phylogenetic trees, and haplotype networks support the taxonomic classification of Valerianella at the four studied sectional levels (V. sects. Valerianella, Cornigerae, Coronatae, Platycoelae) but show admixture for ten taxa from five species pairs (V. locusta—V. carinata, V. coronata—V. pumila, V. multidentata—V. discoidea, V. dentata—V. rimosa, V. eriocarpa—V. microcarpa), which are not reciprocally monophyletic. Dating analyses indicate that the Valerianella sections are relatively old (mid-Miocene), while most species diverged in the Pliocene–Pleistocene. A new section Valerianella sect. Stipitae is described to accommodate the highly divergent and taxonomically distinct V. fusiformis type species. Taxonomic treatments that recognize the sectional ranks and that subsume the separate species of each species pair into single species represent a natural classification for Valerianella.

This study was initiated to determine morphological and pomological traits, together with chemical compounds of kernels from 19 almond genotypes selected in the spontaneous seedling population in northern Serbia. The lowest variation was obtained for dry matter (CV=0.5%) and the highest for kernel weight (CV=18.4%). The overall mean values of pomological traits, contents of crude protein and mineral matter, showed significant differences between the genotypes. Genotype 25/03 had the lowest (0.69 g), whilst 28/03 had the highest kernel weight (1.29 g). The kernel/nut ratio ranged from 12.4 to 33.5%. The percentage of oil varied from 45.82 to 56.14% and most genotypes showed a high level of crude protein that varied from 20.94 to 26.85%. The most interesting for further studies were genotypes with kernel over 1 g: '29/03', '16/03', '28/03', '1/03', 'B/04', then genotypes '10/03', '11/03', and '17/03' with high kernel oil content (over 55%), as well as genotypes '18/03', '19/03', '22/03', having crude protein content of more than 25%.