Crepis

Crepis, commonly known in some parts of the world as hawksbeard or hawk's-beard (but not to be confused with the related genus Hieracium with a similar common name), is a genus of annual and perennial flowering plants of the family Asteraceae superficially resembling the dandelion, the most conspicuous difference being that Crepis usually has branching scapes with multiple heads (though solitary heads can occur). The genus name Crepis derives from the Greek krepis, meaning "slipper" or "sandal", possibly in reference to the shape of the fruit.
The genus is distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere and Africa, and several plants are known as introduced species practically worldwide. The center of diversity is in the Mediterranean.
Ecology
Crepis species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the broad-barred white moth. The fly Tephritis formosa is known to attack the capitula of this plant.
Seeds of Crepis species are an important food source for some bird species.
Reproduction
Crepis can reproduce sexually or asexually. Crepis is insect-pollinated, typically by bees and other generalist pollinators. Species in this genus are able to produce viable seeds through hybridization. Some of these hybrids (depending on their parent species) can reproduce themselves. As an aster, flowers of Crepis are closely clustered on a capitulum, which is surrounded by petal-like rays. Asexual reproduction (or autogamy) between flowers on the same capitulum has been observed in the genus.
Apomixis in Crepis
As with several other genera in Asteraceae, multiple Crepis species exhibit apomixis, a form of asexual reproduction where flowers produce clonal seeds without need of fertilization. Unlike sexually-reproducing individuals, which are diploid, apomicts are typically polyploid, with three or more sets of chromosomes. The mechanism of apomixis in Crepis is apospory, wherein diploid tissue arises during meiosis in the ovule. Through apospory, asexual seeds can develop spontaneously in the flowers of a non-apomictic Crepis.
Crepis is part of the Cichorieae tribe in Asteraceae, and is one of several genera of that tribe that exhibits apomixis. The largest group of asexual species is found in North America, and is referred to as the "North American Crepis agamic complex" The agamic complex may have first arisen in the Pliocene, between 5.3 and 2.6 million years ago. At least one Eurasian Crepis species, C. tectorum, has been observed to self-fertilize. Another agamic complex is thought to exist in Asia. Species known to produce apomicts include C. acuminata, C. barbigera, C. intermedia, and C. occidentalis. Polyploid individuals may still be able to carry out sexual reproduction and therefore produce sexual offspring, allowing for the formation of new polyploid hybrids.
Reproductive interference
Apomictic individuals can prevent reproduction in sexual individuals in multiple ways. Like other apomictic species in Cichorieae, polyploid apomicts may still produce viable pollen that can be transferred to sexual diploids through the normal process of pollination. The mixed apomict-sexual parantage may produce a polyploid hybrid (as has been observed when the apomictic C. barbigera breeds with diploid species C. atribarba). Seed set in the diploid may be reduced, or the pollen may produce hybrid seeds that are unable to reproduce or survive to a normal lifespan. The pollen from the apomict may also prevent germination of pollen from a diploid flower. When pollen from a polyploid individual fertilizes diploid flowers, the resultant seeds are typically polyploid, which lowers the diploid population over generations.
As a result of this reproductive interference, sexual reproduction between diploid plants is reduced when apomicts enter a population. Because diploid species require pollen exchange to reproduce and apomicts can produce seeds by parthenogenesis, apomicts do not suffer any reproductive consequences in a mixed diploid-polyploid population. Meanwhile, the reproductive success of sexually-reproducing diploids falls, resulting in diploids being found more often in populations isolated from apomicts.
Evolutionary implications
Although apomixis has been considered a "blind alley of evolution", research into apomictic species and species complexes has cast doubt on this. Apomictic clades elsewhere in Cichorieae have demonstrated an ability to "revert" to a sexual mode of reproduction, reducing the risk of extinction through lack of introgression. Speciation in Crepis has occurred through its ability to self-fertilize, hybridize, and form polyploid apomicts.
Apomixis can facilitate range expansion in ways that sexual reproduction does not. Apomicts do not require input of genetic material for another individual, and can therefore produce seeds on maturity without the aid of pollinators. This allows apomictic populations to expand into new geographic areas more rapidly than sexual ones. Because apomixis in Crepis involves multiple ploidy levels, there is sufficient genetic variation for adaptation to novel ecosystems. Additionally, some Crepis apomict species have the ability to hybridize with other apomicts, resulting in genetic recombination alongside parthenogenesis.
Uses
In Crete, Greece the leaves of Crepis commutata which are called are eaten raw, boiled, steamed or browned in salads. Another two species on the same island, Crepis vesicaria, called , or and a local variety called or have both its leaves and tender shoots eaten boiled by the locals.
Secondary metabolites
The genus Crepis is a rich source of costus lactone-type guaianolides, a class of sesquiterpene lactones.
Phenolics found in Crepis include luteolin-type flavonoids and caffeoyl quinic acid derivatives such as chlorogenic acid and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid. Moreover, Crepis species contain the caffeoyl tartaric acid derivatives caffeoyl tartaric acid and cichoric acid.
Diversity
There are about 200 species in the genus.
Species include:
Crepis acuminata – tapertip hawksbeard, longleaf hawk's-beard
Crepis alpestris
Crepis alpina
Crepis aspera
Crepis atribarba – dark hawk's-beard, slender hawk's-beard
Crepis aurea – golden hawk's-beard
Crepis bakeri – Baker's hawksbeard
Crepis barbigera – bearded hawk's-beard
Crepis biennis – rough hawksbeard
Crepis bungei
Crepis bursifolia – Italian hawksbit
Crepis capillaris – smooth hawksbeard, green crepis
Crepis conyzifolia
Crepis dioscoridis
Crepis foetida – stinking hawksbeard, roadside hawk's-beard
Crepis incana – pink dandelion
Crepis intermedia – limestone hawksbeard, small-flower hawk's-beard
Crepis kotschyana
Crepis micrantha
Crepis modocensis – Modoc hawksbeard, Siskiyou hawksbeard
Crepis mollis – northern hawksbeard
Crepis monticola – mountain hawksbeard
Crepis nicaeensis – French hawksbeard, Turkish hawksbeard
Crepis occidentalis – largeflower hawksbeard, gray hawk's-beard, western hawk's-beard
Crepis palaestina
Crepis paludosa – marsh hawksbeard
Crepis pannonica – pasture hawksbeard
Crepis phoenix
Crepis pleurocarpa – nakedstem hawksbeard, naked hawk's-beard
Crepis pontana
Crepis praemorsa – leafless hawksbeard
Crepis pulchra – small-flower hawk's-beard
Crepis pygmaea – pygmy hawksbeard
Crepis pyrenaica
Crepis rubra – red hawksbeard, pink hawk's-beard
Crepis runcinata – fiddleleaf hawksbeard
Crepis sancta – holy hawksbeard
Crepis setosa – bristly hawksbeard
Crepis sibirica
Crepis sodiroi
Crepis tectorum – narrow-leaved hawksbeard
Crepis thompsonii
Crepis vesicaria – beaked hawksbeard, dandelion hawk's-beard, weedy hawk's-beard
Crepis zacintha – striped hawksbeard
References
External links
USDA Plants Profile of Crepis species in North America
GRIN Species Report on Crepis
Flora of China: Crepis
Asteraceae genera
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus