FYI, here are the groupings/relationships in Themidaceae that were found using several different DNA sequences. It turns out that they are not even closely related to Alliaceae, but rather are a sister family to Hyacinthaceae. I tried to show the groupings and levels using '|' and '-' and indentation. I hope it makes sense. (It looks best when viewed with a fixed width font.) I got this from "A Phylogenetic Evaluation of a Biosystematic Framework: _Brodiaea_ and Related Petaloid Monocots (Themidaceae)" by J. Chris Pires and Kenneth J. Sytsma in American Journal of Botany 89(8): 1342-1359, 2002. They found four major clades or high-level groupings: The Brodiaea-Dichelostemma-Triteleiopsis clade The Milla complex clade (sometimes called the Mexican Themidaceae) The Triteleia-Bloomeria-Muilla clevelandii clade The Androstephium-Muilla clade The first two clades are related to each other more than they are to the second two clades, and the second two clades are more related to each other than they are to the first two clades. Below you can see that there are two Brodiaeas and one Dichelostemma that are not as closely related to the other Brodiaeas and Dichelostemmas as all those are to each other. Also the Triteleias aren't very closely related to the Brodiaeas or Dichelostemmas. All the Milla complex are more closely related to them than the Triteleias are. It turns out that the Triteleias are most closely related to the Bloomerias and Muilla clevelandii, and that those three are more closely related to the remaining Muillas and Androstephiums than to either the Milla/Mexican complex or the Brodiaeas or Dichelostemmas. Very interesting. Of course this may get more refined far into the future as more and more DNA material is sequenced and compared. --Lee Poulsen Pasadena, California, USDA Zone 10a THEMIDACEAE ============================ |---------------------- ||------------------ |||-------------- ||||--------- |||||Brodiaea appendiculata ||||| B. stellaris ||||| B. minor ||||| B. terrestris ssp terrestris |||||B. jolonensis ||||| B. elegans ssp elegans ||||| B. cornaria ssp rosea ||||| |||||Dichelostemma volubile ||||| D. ida-maia ||||| D. multiflorum ||||| D. congestum ||||--------- |||| ||||Brodiaea orcutti ||||B. filifolia |||-------------- ||| |||Dichelostemma capitatum ssp capitatum ||------------------ | |Triteleiopsis palmerii |---------------------- |---------------------- |Dandya thadhowardii | Jaimehintonia gypsophila | Milla magnifica | Petronymphe decora |Milla biflora | Bessera tuitensis | B. elegans |---------------------- ============================ ============================ |---------------------- ||--------- ||Muilla clevelandii || Bloomeria humilis || B. crocea var crocea || Triteleia bridgesii || T. laxa || T. peduncularis || T. lemmoniae || T. montana || T. ixioides ssp scabra || T. hyacinthina || T. grandiflora var grandiflora || T. crocea ssp crocea || T. hendersonii var leachiae || T. hendersonii var hendersonii ||--------- | | ||--------- ||Androstephium coeruleum ||A. breviflorum ||Muilla maritima || M. transmontana || M. coronata ||--------- |---------------------- ============================