Spongiocarpella

Taxonomy

Spongiocarpella G.P. Yakovlev & N. Ulziykhutag In G. P. Yakovlev et O. A. Sviazeva, Bot. Zurn. (Moscow & Leningrad) 72: 250. Feb 1987.

Subfamily: Faboideae.
Phylogenetic Number: 3.16.13.
Tribe: Galegeae.
Subtribe: Astragalinae.
Species Studied - Species in Genus: 0 studied; 9 in genus.

Distribution

Russia, Mongolia, China, Tibet, and India.

Old World; Russia, or India, or China, or Mongolia (including Mongolia and Tibet).

Tribal Notes

Tribe Galegeae

Traditionally this tribe has been called Galegeae. Reveal (1997) reported that the name Astragaleae was published before the name Galegeae. Following the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Greuter et al., 1994), the oldest name for a taxon must be used, so Reveal suggested that this tribe should be called Astragaleae. In 1999 Reveal (1999) reversed himself, so that this tribe remains the Galegeae. Welsh (1960) reported on the Galegeae of north-central United States. Sanderson and Liston (1995) carried out cladistic analyses of Galegeae genera using molecular data. They concluded that Galegeae is paraphyletic having given rise to tribes Cicereae (20), Hedysareae (18), Trifolieae (21), and Fabeae (19), and therefore requiring a re-evaluation of the circumscription of Galegeae. Heenan (1995, 1998c), utilizing unpublished nuclear ribosomal DNA ITS data, concluded that "Carmichaelia (17.05) is nested within (the) 'Astragalean clade' of Galegeae" and is the sister group of Clianthus. He therefore supported the proposal of Sanderson and Wojciehowski (1996) that Carmichaelieae should not be recognized at tribal level, but rather included in Galegeae.