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The phenomenon of polyploidy and hybridization usually results in novel genetic combinations, leading to complex, reticulate evolution and incongruence among gene trees, which in turn may show different phylogenetic histories than the inherent species tree. The largest tribe within the subfamily Lamioideae (Lamiaceae), Stachydeae, which includes the globally distributed Stachys, and one of the largest Hawaiian angiosperm radiations, the endemic mints, is a widespread and taxonomically challenging lineage displaying a wide spectrum of morphological and chromosomal diversity. Previous molecular phylogenetic studies have showed that while the Hawaiian mints group with Mexican-South American Stachys based on chloroplast DNA sequence data, nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) sequences suggest that they are most closely related to temperate North American Stachys. Here, we have utilized five independently inherited, low-copy nuclear loci, and a variety of phylogenetic methods, including multi-locus coalescence-based tree reconstructions, to provide insight into the complex origins and evolutionary relationships between the New World Stachys and the Hawaiian mints. Our results demonstrate incongruence between individual gene trees, grouping the Hawaiian mints with both temperate North American and Meso-South American Stachys clades. However, our multi-locus coalescence tree is concurrent with previous nrDNA results placing them within the temperate North American Stachys clade. Our results point toward a possible allopolyploid hybrid origin of the Hawaiian mints arising from temperate North American and Meso-South American ancestors, as well as a reticulate origin for South American Stachys. As such, our study is another significant step toward further understanding the putative parentage and the potential influence of hybridization and incomplete lineage sorting in giving rise to this insular plant lineage, which following colonization underwent rapid morphological and ecological diversification., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Due to its unique geological history and isolated location, the Hawaiian Archipelago provides an ideal setting for studies on biogeography, phylogeny and population biology. Species richness in these islands has been attributed to unique colonization events. The Hawaiian mints comprising of three endemic genera represent one of the largest radiations in the island. Previous studies have shown the Hawaiian mints to be nested within the dry-fruited Stachys, probably resulting from one or more hybridization events. Stachydeae, the largest tribe in the subfamily Lamioideae (Lamiaceae), is a taxonomically complex and widespread lineage exhibiting remarkable chromosomal diversity. In this paper we attempted at untangling the relationships between the New World and Hawaiian mint taxa, as well as investigate the origin and diversification of the mints in the New World. There seem to have been at least two independent migration events of Stachys to the New World during the Middle to Late Miocene and towards the beginning of the Pliocene, respectively. Results indicate incongruence between the rDNA and cpDNA phylogenies suggesting a reticulate, New World origin for the Hawaiian mints, although dispersal to Hawaii appears to have happened only once during the Pliocene. South American Stachys diversified from their Mesoamerican relatives around Late Pliocene and may also have arisen from similar reticulate events indicated by their intercalating position among the Mesoamerican Stachys species. Further insights into the phylogenetic relationships between the New World mints may be gathered through the study of low copy nuclear loci., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)