Repeated polyploidization shapes divergence in floral morphology in Lithophragma bolanderi (Saxifragaceae)

Polyploidization is an important driver of evolution and diversification in flowering plants. Here, we assess how repeated polyploidization may have shaped diversification of floral morphology in Lithophragma bolanderi (Saxifragaceae). This species comprises multiple cytotypes and varies geographically in its interactions with specialized pollinating moths in the genus Greya (Prodoxidae). Past studies have shown that coevolution with these moths has favored particular suites of floral characters but does not fully explain local and regional floral diversification. We combined phenotypic and genomic data from more than 1800 individuals from 40 L. bolanderi populations spread across its entire range. Flow-cytometric analyses revealed a geographic mosaic of populations comprising one to four of three dominant (diploid, tetraploid, hexaploid) and three rare (triploid, pentaploid, octoploid) cytotypes. Whole-genome resequencing of a subset of populations suggested that polyploids arose from ..., In 29 natural populations of the plant Lithophragma bolanderi in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA, seeds were collected. A subset of these seeds was grown in a greenhouse common-garden. When the plants were well established, leaf material was collected and analyzed using flow cytometry (conducted by one of the authors with Brassica napus as internal standard) to assess plant ploidy level, flower diameter and corolla-opening diameter were measured of fresh flowers using digital calipers, and flowers were collected, stored in 70% ethanol, dissected, and photographed to quantify additional floral morphological traits based on the photos and to assess the shape of the petal edge. As the flowers were apportioned among three persons to conduct the measurements, one of these persons remeasured a subset of the flowers measured by the other two persons. In cases where the measurements were not highly correlated, this one person remeasured these traits for all samples. This one person also visu..., # Data from: Repeated polyploidization shapes divergence in floral morphology in Lithophragma bolanderi (Saxifragaceae)

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This dataset contains all morphological and flow cytometry data newly collected for the following article:
Karin Grossa, Homa Papoli Yazdi, Elisabeth Schlager, Jodie Lilley, Andrés Romero-Bravo, Anna Runemark, John N Thompson, and Magne Friberg. Repeated polyploidization shapes divergence in floral morphology in Lithophragma bolanderi (Saxifragaceae). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Details concerning the methodology and analyses of all data are described in the main text and the SI Appendix file of the article above.

This dataset consists of the following six data files (file type: tab-delimited .txt files):

1. 01_FlowCytometry_Data_Gross_etal_2025.txt
2. 02_FloralMorphology27PopulationCommonGarden_Data_Gross_etal_2025.txt
3. 03_FloralMorphologySyntheticPolyploidization_Data_Gross_etal_2025.txt
4. 04_FloralMorphologyFieldCommonGarden_Data_Gro...,