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Clonal Diversity, Cultivar Traits, Geographic Dispersal, and the Ethnotaxonomy of Cultivated Qat (Catha edulis, Celastraceae)

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Abstract

Farmers and traders have developed a system of names to refer to different qat (Catha edulis) cultivars, using stem color as the primary trait to differentiate them. In this study, we tested if the named cultivars from Ethiopia, Kenya, and Yemen represent genetic clusters. We also quantified clonal reproduction and tracked the geographic dispersal of cultivated–qat genotypes using microsatellite genotypes of specimens collected from across the major qat growing regions (Ethiopia, Kenya, and Yemen). Specimens were mapped to determine whether names, morphology, genetic clusters, or genotypes (in particular clones) were geographically restricted. Stem color was found to be a plastic trait because specimens of the same genotype have different colored stems. A single cultivar name was often applied to numerous clonal groups and genetic clusters, creating widespread homonymy in the ethnotaxonomy of qat cultivars. The East African Rift (EAR) in central Ethiopia was found to be a barrier to the exchange of both clonal groups and certain cultivar names. In Kenya, both cultivar names and clonal groups were broadly dispersed geographically. Nearly all of these clonal groups originated from the Mt. Kenya/Meru area in central Kenya.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Daniel Potter and an anonymous reviewer for numerous suggestions with which to improve the manuscript; Amy Angert, Jennifer Cappa, Todd Gilligan, Daniel Sloan, Sarah Ward, and Jessica Warren for their constructive comments on numerous aspects of this manuscript; Remi Bonnart and Adam Henk for assisting with technical aspects of the experiments; colleagues involved with collecting material for this study, including Wege Abebe, Robert Archer, Tesfaye Awas, Assefa Hailu, Ensermu Kelbessa, Catherine Lukhoba, Geoffrey Mwachala, Pamela Puppo, Helene Razamatsoa, James Solomon, and Melaku Wondafrash; as well as the Ethiopian, Kenyan, Malagasy, and Yemeni farmers who generously allowed us to collect their crops. Funding was provided by the American Institute for Yemeni Studies (to L.R.T.), the Harold David Harrington Fellowship (to L.R.T.), the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation (to M.P.S.), and the National Geographic Society (to M.P.S.). The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Luke R. Tembrock & Mark P. Simmons

  2. United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Christopher M. Richards, Patrick A. Reeves & Ann Reilley

  3. Institute for Integrative Nature Conservation Research, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria

    Manuel A. Curto & Harald Meimberg

  4. East African Herbarium, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya

    Grace Ngugi

  5. National Herbarium, Department of Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management, College of Natural Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Sebsebe Demissew

  6. Department of Biology, College of Science and Art, Al Baha University, Baljurashi, Saudi Arabia

    Abdul Wali Al-Khulaidi

  7. Agricultural Research and Extension Authority, Dhamar, Yemen

    Abdul Wali Al-Khulaidi

  8. Department of Horticulture and Forestry, College of Agriculture, Sana’a University, Sana’a, Yemen

    Mansoor Al-Thobhani

  9. United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Unit, Stoneville, MS, USA

    Sheron Simpson

  10. American Institute for Yemeni Studies, Sana’a, Yemen

    Daniel M. Varisco

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  1. Luke R. Tembrock
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  2. Mark P. Simmons
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Correspondence to Mark P. Simmons.

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Tembrock, L.R., Simmons, M.P., Richards, C.M. et al. Clonal Diversity, Cultivar Traits, Geographic Dispersal, and the Ethnotaxonomy of Cultivated Qat (Catha edulis, Celastraceae). Econ Bot 74, 273–291 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-020-09501-4

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