Pkytologia (November 1993) 75(5):358-365. TAXONOMIC STATUS OF NARDOPHYLLUM SCOPARIUM {ASJER^CEAE: ASTEREAE) WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE DEFINITION OF NARDOPHYLLUM Guy L. Nesom Department of Botany, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78713 U.S.A. ABSTRACT Nardophyllum scoparium Philippi from northwestern Chile was trans-ferred to Hinterhubera by Cabrera but it is here retained in the original position proposed by Philippi. The species is characterized by green-glutinous stems with small, widely spaced leaves and small, nearly dis-coid heads. The disc flowers are hermaphroditic with fertile ovaries, the few peripheral flowers are pistillate and apparently derived from hermaphroditic ones. Two other taxa also appear to be best placed within Nardophyllum, the southern Argentinan, monotypic genera Ayla-cophora and Paleaepappus. Two new combinations are proposed: Nar-dophyllum [Aylacophora] deserticola and Nardophyllum [Paleaepap-pus] patagonicum. As recognized here, Nardophyllum comprises ten species. KEYWORDS: Nardophyllum, Hinterhubera, Aylacophora, Paleaepap-pus, Asteraceae, Astereae, South America Nardophyllum scoparium Philippi was described by Philippi in 1894 from a collection near Coquimbo in northwestern Chile, where it apparently is en-demic. The plants of this species produce green-glutinous, thornless, and nearly leafless stems, small and nearly discoid heads, central flowers relatively few (7-12) and with fertile ovaries, glandular achenes, and disc style branches with long, minutely papillate collecting appendages. In his conspectus of the genus Nardophyllum Hook. & Arn., Cabrera (1954; also see 1971, 1978) ex-cluded N. scoparium on the basis of its pistillate peripheral flowers, as the seven species of Nardophyllum accepted by Cabrera produce discoid heads with only hermaphroditic flowers. In most respects, however, N. scoparium. is similar to other species of Nardophyllum but distinctly different from the genus 358
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