XVI International Botanical Congess

The generic concept of Senecio has been subject to varied interpretations. This is predominantly due to its cosmopolitan distribution but also probably because of its putative paraphyletic composition. Attempts to clarify the generic concept using micromorphological data have been partially successful. Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS, nrDNA) sequence data is now being used to facilitate the elucidation of the generic concept. A cladistic analysis of ITS data of some senecios and comparisons with micromorphological character mapping on ITS-based cladograms is presented.