Researchers have previously suggested that the ca. 14 species of the principally North American genus Dodecatheon (Primulaceae) are closely related to Primula subgenus Auriculastrum (3 sections) based on their similar leaf vernation and cytology, as well as cpDNA results involving single exemplars of Dodecatheon. Dodecatheon differs from Primula in traits apparently related to its buzz pollination, including its reflexed petals, poricidal anthers, and lack of heterostyly. We have sampled seven cpDNA regions (5 kb) from most taxa of Dodecatheon and the two sections of Primula subgenus Auriculastrum found in North America, as well as single exemplars from each subsection of the remaining section Auricula from Europe. The combined cpDNA data strongly supports the nested position of a monophyletic Dodecatheon in Primula subgenus Auriculastrum. Within Dodecatheon, sections Capitulum and Dodecatheon are resolved as monophyletic, but section Purpureo-tubulosa is not. We are currently screening the single- or low-copy nuclear DNA regions leafy and waxy for their utility in the group, and we plan to present a nuclear phylogeny based upon one or both of these. Our micro-morphological survey of reproductive structures in Dodecatheon and Primula subgenus Auriculastrum documents previously unexamined characters (e.g., the presence, shape, and distribution of glands on sepals and petals) and re-examines features believed to distinguish Dodecatheon from Primula (e.g., the presence/absence of nectaries). The evolutionary history of these micro-morphological characters and those characters traditionally used to distinguish sections of Dodecatheon (e.g., seed shape) will be reconstructed on the phylogeny to determine their utility in recognizing clades within the group.

Key words: buzz pollination, Dodecatheon, Primula, Primulaceae