Conclusions
In summary, we explored the phenotypic and genetic diversification of 20 populations of the A. viridiflora complex across its range. Our results revealed lineage divergence in the A. viridifloracomplex, and four lineages were distinguished with a high geographic correlation and most likely derived from divergent selection due to heterogeneous environments and geographic isolation. In addition, continuous gene flow between lineages existed during the lineage divergence. By conducting multiple analyses, we identified the genetic variables associated with environmental variables, which might influence the evolution process. More importantly, our findings provide genomic insights into the integration of information on gene flow, divergence time of lineages, population effect size, and divergent selection to identify genes potentially involved in speciation and the basis of geographic distributions of phenotypic variations. This study may also accelerate further taxonomic and evolutionary studies on the A. viridiflora complex and other species in the East Asia.