Phylogenetic Background and Taxonomic Status of Crepidiastrum lanceolatum (Asteraceae) Sold as a Traditional Vegetable in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan Revealed by MIG-seq SNP Data

Abstract

We evaluated the phylogenetic and taxonomic relationships among plants of Crepidiastrum lanceolatum collected from wild populations, traditionally cultivated on Kudaka-jima Island and commercially sold as a traditional vegetable in Okinawa Prefecture, using MIG-seq SNP data. The results showed that most plants being sold in markets belonged to a single clade, and all of them were more closely related to wild plants from outside of Okinawa Prefecture and cultivated plants on Kudaka-jima Island than to wild plants from islands within Okinawa Prefecture. These results suggest that most C. lanceolatum plants sold in Okinawa Prefecture have a single origin, such that they might have been artificially introduced from outside of Okinawa Prefecture.