Phylogeny of New World Salvia subgenus Calosphace (Lamiaceae) based on cpDNA (psbA-trnH) and nrDNA (ITS) sequence data

Salvia subgenus Calosphace (Lamiaceae) is economically and ethnomedicinally significant and comprised of more than 500 species. Although strongly supported as monophyletic, it has received no comprehensive systematic research since the initial establishment of 91 taxonomic sections in 1939. Representative taxa of 73 sections of Calosphace were sampled to investigate the phylogenetic relationships and identify major lineages using chloroplast (intergenic spacer psbA-trnH) and nuclear ribosomal DNA (internal transcribed spacer). Phylogenetic analysis of the combined data sets established monophyly of seven sections (Blakea, Corrugatae, Erythrostachys, Hastatae, Incarnatae, Microsphace, and Sigmoideae) and four major lineages (S. axillaris, "Hastatae clade", "Uliginosae clade", and "core Calosphace"). Sections spanning two or more centers of diversity are not supported by our results; rather, supported relationships exhibit significant geographic structure. Mexico is supported as the geographic origin of Calosphace, and no more than seven dispersal events to South America are required to account for current disjunct distributions.

Medicinal plant complexes of Salvia subgenus Calosphace: an ethnobotanical study of new world sages

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The species of Salvia subgenus Calosphace are used medicinally and ritually in numerous traditions of folk healing among indigenous cultures of North and South America with more than 500 species. These species contain numerous bioactive terpenes and terpenoids, some active at human opioid and GABA receptors, which may contribute to their effectiveness as folk medicines. Medicinal plant complexes contain species which share common names, morphological and/or aromatic properties, and medicinal uses; these complexes are found in traditional systems of medicine. Our research looks for complexes within Calosphace and the secondary metabolites they contain.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Several studies have combined molecular phylogenetics and ethnopharmacology to successfully target active medicinal species. In this paper, we have selected a monophyletic clade, Salvia subgenus Calosphace, and performed a literature search to identify medicinal plant complexes within it. We created a database from over 200 references, found using keywords, and herbarium sheets. To identify medicinal plant complexes within the database, all species with shared vernacular names were first grouped. If the species sharing common names had similar medicinal uses and morphological similarity, they were concluded to be a complex. In order to determine the accuracy and validity of this approach, the chia complex was used as control, and we more species than reported by all of the published references combined. After identifying complexes and species within each, we searched the phytochemical literature to identify all reported secondary metabolites for each.

RESULTS

We identify four previously unidentified complexes. Mirto (5 species) is used extensively in the treatment of the folk illness susto and other illnesses in Mexico, and is characterized by red flowers. Ñucchu (7 species) used as a symbolic element in religious processions and in the treatment of respiratory ailments in Peru and characterized by red flowers. Cantueso (2 species), with blue flowers, is used for respiratory ailments in Mexico, and Manga-paqui (3 species) is used for kidney and liver diseases in Ecuador. For the species of each complex we report all traditional preparations, other vernacular names, and known secondary metabolites. Among these complexes, Mirto and Ñucchu appear to have exceptional levels of cultural significance.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results support our hypothesis that species within Salvia subgenus Calosphace will assort into complexes of medicinal plants that share common names, appearances, and medicinal uses. We have identified four new complexes within this monophyletic lineage, mirto, ñucchu, cantueso, and manga-paqui.

Evolution and origins of the Mazatec hallucinogenic sage, Salvia divinorum (Lamiaceae): a molecular phylogenetic approach

Salvia divinorum Epl. & Játiva-M. (Lamiaceae) is a potent hallucinogenic plant that is classified within Salvia subgenus Calosphace, section Dusenostachys, and hypothesized to be an interspecific hybrid. It is of ethnobotanical significance due to its employment in traditional healing ceremonies by the Mazatecs of Oaxaca, Mexico, and due to its unique pharmacology-a highly selective, non-nitrogenous, κ-opioid receptor agonist. In order to test its phylogenetic position and putative hybridity, we sequenced multiple DNA regions (ITS, trnL-trnF, and psbA-trnH) of 52 species-representing the major lineages of subgenus Calosphace-and six accessions of S. divinorum. Our molecular phylogenetic results suggest that S. divinorum should not be classified within Dusenostachys and that it is not a hybrid. Additionally, we determine that the closest known relative of this psychoactive Mexican sage is S. venulosa, a rare endemic of Colombia.