Previous molecular phylogenetic analyses of the family Cyperaceae based on rbcL sequences showed Bulbostylis as paraphyletic, with B. atrosanguinea and B. hispidula forming a clade with Nemum spadiceum. On the contrary, phylogenetic analyses of the tribe Abildgaardieae based on nuclear (ITS ribosomal region) and plastid sequences (trnL-F region) showed Bulbostylis as monophyletic, although they only incorporated four species of Bulbostylis and none of Nemum. In this work, we presented a phylogenetic hypothesis of Bulbostylis based on a comprehensive sampling, including species from different continents for the first time. New sequences of Abildgaardia, Crosslandia, Fimbristylis, and Nemum were included to test the monophyly of Bulbostylis. In total, 84 sequences of both ITS and trnL regions were generated. Analyses were performed using Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood, and parsimony. Ancestral state reconstruction was performed using ML, MCMC, and parsimony methods. In all analyses, Bulbostylis resulted paraphyletic as Nemum atracuminatum is nested within it. Most American species of Bulbostylis grouped together, but relationships amongst them appeared poorly resolved. Ancestral state reconstructions of native distribution suggest an African ancestor of Bulbostylis, with at least three introduction independent events of the species in America. Morphological diagnostic characters such as the ‘style base permanence or detachment from the ripe achene’, and the ‘micromorphological patterns of the achene surface’ are homoplastic in this phylogenetic context, and therefore unsuitable to propose infrageneric groupings within the Bulbostylis.

Background: One of the main problems that fruit health has gone through in recent years is the difficult eradication of their fungal pathogens during crops or the post-harvest stage. This concerns the whole world because it represents huge production losses, fruit export restrictions and consumer distrust. Consequently, new alternatives are sought to avoid the increasing use of fungicides that cause important damage to fruit consumers and to the environment. One of the alternatives to solve this problem could be the exploration of plants and their active compounds applied to the treatment of fruit health. Materials and methods: This article describes peach production worldwide and particularly in Argentina, in addition to the main fungal rot that causes the greatest economic losses. Furthermore, experimental in-vitro studies of 69 extracts obtained from 18 plants growing in the central region of Argentina were displayed against the devastating fungus Monilinia fructicola, which greatly affects stone fruits. A simple and effective method developed in agar plate was applied to evaluate a large number of samples in a short time. Results: Results showed that approximately 36% of the samples tested were strongly active against this pathogen, 12% were moderately active and 52% demonstrated to be inactive. Conclusion: These findings support the possible use of natural products for fruit health and the importance of deepening in this field of science.