Morphological and Molecular Evidence of Polyphyly in Rhodomyrtus (Myrtaceae: Myrteae)

Abstract

Abstract The monophyly of the genus Rhodomyrtus (Myrtaceae) was tested using data from morphology and the nuclear ribosomal ITS regions (ITS-1, ITS-2) and 5.8S gene. Representative species from baccate genera hypothesized to be closely related to Rhodomyrtus were included, such as Archirhodomyrtus, Octamyrtus, Knnakomyrtus, and some genera believed to be more distantly related, including Rhodamnia, Decaspermum, Pilidiostigma, and Myrtastrum. Up to four capsular-fruited outgroup species were used to root the trees (Heteropyxis natalensis, Carpolepis tardiflora, Lophostemon confertus, and Metrosideros rotundifolia). Morphological data using neighbor joining scattered species of Rhodomyrtus across several branches but generally recovered genera other than Rhodomyrtus. Using parsimony, the morphological data analysis also rejected the monophyly of Rhodomyrtus and resulted in consensus trees with relatively low resolution and bootstrap support. Based on traditionally recognized generic boundaries, results from...