Phylogenetic relationships of Lecythidaceae: A cladistic analysis using rbcL sequence and morphological data

This study examined in detail the rbcL sequence and morphological support for subfamilial relationships and monophyly of Lecythidaceae. Initially we needed to establish relationships of Lecythidaceae among other dicot families. To complete this we examined 47 rbcL sequences of 25 families along with molecular observations from several large analyses of rbcL data. All analyses strongly support the monophyly of the asterid III grouping. This analysis revealed Lecythidaceae to be paraphyletic and indicated potential outgroup relationships with Sapotaceae. Once relationships had been evaluated using molecular data we then concentrated on analyzing separate and combined morphological and molecular databases. The topology of the morphological data set was similar to the rbcL sequence and combined data sets except for the positioning of Napoleonaeoideae, Grias, Gustavia, and Oubanguia. According to the combined results, Planchonioideae, Lecythidoideae, and Foetidioideae are monophyletic, whereas the subfamily Napoleonaeoideae are paraphyletic. Nested within Napoleonaeoideae, we found Asteranthos forms a strongly supported clade with Oubanguia (Scytopetalaceae). Foetidia, the only genus of Foetidioideae, is sister to Planchonioideae, and this clade is sister to Lecythidoideae. The [(Planchonioideae, Foetidioideae) Lecythidoideae] are sister to Asteranthos/Oubanguia. Napoleonaeoideae are sister to the rest of Lecythidaceae.