Leaf traits are crucial to seedling growth and survival, and their plasticity can influence seedling fitness in changing environments. Seedlings of Artemisia tridentata, a keystone shrub of the western North American sagebrush steppe, show heteromorphic leaf development. Early leaves are larger and less pubescent than those produced later, suggesting a shift from characteristics favouring rapid growth to those increasing drought tolerance. To investigate this hypothesis, we determined the specific leaf area (SLA) and the osmotic potential at full turgor (π0) of early and late leaves, and measured their stomatal conductance and photosynthetic rates as leaf water potential (Ψl) declined under imposed drought. We also examined whether water stress could trigger late leaf development. At high Ψl and per area, early and late leaves had similar photosynthetic rates. However, the SLA of early leaves was three times higher than that of late leaves, yielding higher photosynthetic rates per unit mass in the former. Late leaves had lower π0 and were less sensitive to drought, exhibiting a lower Ψl at 50% of maximum photosynthesis than early leaves. Drought triggered the shedding of early leaves and the initiation of late-like leaves. Formation of these leaves continued upon return to well-watered conditions, possibly indicating stress memory. The overall results suggest that early leaves enhance growth during wet springs following germination, while late leaves prolong photosynthesis as water potentials decline during summer drought. The adaptive value of early leaves may be diminishing due to changing environmental conditions that are accelerating the onset of drought.

With ca. 200 morphologically variable species placed in 20 putative genera within the tribe Selineae of subfamily Apioideae, the Perennial Endemic North American (PENA) clade of Apiaceae forms the second‐largest plant radiation entirely endemic to North America, yet, elucidating evolutionary relationships for this intractable plant lineage has been challenging. The objectives of this study are to elucidate the monophyly of the PENA clade and assess phylogenetic relationships to other clades in Selineae, contributing to a refined understanding of relationships. By analyzing a robust sample set, including ingroup and outgroup taxa, we employ high‐throughput sequencing technologies to capture a wide array of nuclear DNA sequences using the Angiosperms353 baits. Our bioinformatics pipeline, incorporating both HybPiper and HybPhaser workflows, facilitated the recovery and analysis of targeted sequences, ensuring high‐quality data for maximum likelihood and multispecies pseudo‐coalescent phylogenetic reconstructions. Our phylogenetic analyses do not recover a monophyletic PENA that includes all genera presumed to be part of this clade. Our results prompted the realignment of genera to include in the PENA clade. Genera that occur primarily in eastern North America are moved out of PENA. We also resolve, for the first time, the placement of the genus Eurytaenia within Apiaceae. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the phylogenetic relationships within a taxonomically complex group of western North American Apiaceae, paving the way for broader insights into plant diversity and evolution in this botanically complex region.