Angiosperms have become the dominant terrestrial plant group by diversifying for ~145 million years into a broad range of environments. During the course of evolution, numerous morphological innovations arose, often preceded by whole genome duplications (WGD). The mustard family (Brassicaceae), a successful angiosperm clade with ~4000 species, has been diversifying into many evolutionary lineages for more than 30 million years. Here we develop a species inventory, analyze morphological variation, and present a maternal, plastome-based genus-level phylogeny. We show that increased morphological disparity, despite an apparent absence of clade-specific morphological innovations, is found in tribes with WGDs or diversification rate shifts. Both are important processes in Brassicaceae, resulting in an overall high net diversification rate. Character states show frequent and independent gain and loss, and form varying combinations. Therefore, Brassicaceae pave the way to concepts of phylogenetic genome-wide association studies to analyze the evolution of morphological form and function.

Centre for Organismal Studies University of Heidelberg Im Neuenheimer Feld 345 69120 Heidelberg Germany

Centre for Organismal Studies University of Heidelberg Im Neuenheimer Feld 345 69120 Heidelberg Germany GYDLE 1135 Grande Allée Ouest Québec QC G1S 1E7 Canada

Centre for Organismal Studies University of Heidelberg Im Neuenheimer Feld 345 69120 Heidelberg Germany School of Life Sciences Nanchang University 330031 Nanchang China

Centre for Organismal Studies University of Heidelberg Im Neuenheimer Feld 345 69120 Heidelberg Germany South Siberian Botanical Garden Altai State University Lenina Ave 61 656049 Barnaul Russia

Department of Biology Systematic Botany University of Osnabrück Barbarastraße 11 49076 Osnabrück Germany

Department of Botany Faculty of Science Charles University Benátská 2 128 01 Prague Czech Republic

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