Abstract
The genus Oecopetalum Greenm. & C.H. Thomps. (Metteniusaceae) is distributed in the southeastern portion of Mexico to Central America (Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica). Three species have been described and two have been reported as edible. We studied herbarium specimens of the genus Oecopetalum and performed a phylogenetic analysis based on the chloroplast genes matK and ndhF to answers to main questions: How many species are in the genus Oecopetalum? Is the genus Oecopetalum monophyletic? What are the generic relationships with other members of the family? Oecopetalum is a monophyletic genus with only two species. Pittosporosis is the sister group of Oecopetalum. The Trans-Atlantic relationship of Oecopetalum and Pittosporosis is a recurrent geographic pattern in the family Mettenuisaceae as well as in the family Icacinaceae. Our results, in concordance with fossil evidence and relationships of other groups, support the Boreotropical model of high-latitude terrestrial migrations of tropical taxa during the globally warm Paleocene–Eocene.
Highlights
The first phylogenetic study of the Icacinaceae, based on combined molecular and morphological characters, showed Oecopetalum to be part of the ‘Emmotum group’ comprising six genera: Calatola, Emmotum, Oecopetalum, Ottoschulzia, Platea, and Poraqueiba (Kårehed, 2001)
We studied herbarium specimens of the genus Oecopetalum and performed a phylogenetic analysis based on the plastid genes matK and ndhF to answer several major questions: How many species are in the genus Oecopetalum? Is Oecopetalum monophyletic, and how is the genus related to other members of the family? Our results indicate that Oecopetalum is monophyletic, with only two species, and sister to the Asian genus Pittosporopsis
Oecopetalum was found to be sister to the monotypic Asian genus Pittosporopsis, which previously had never been included in a phylogenetic analysis (Stull et al, 2015)
Summary
The first phylogenetic study of the Icacinaceae, based on combined molecular and morphological characters, showed Oecopetalum to be part of the ‘Emmotum group’ comprising six genera: Calatola, Emmotum, Oecopetalum, Ottoschulzia, Platea, and Poraqueiba (Kårehed, 2001). Oecopetalum was found to be sister to the monotypic Asian genus Pittosporopsis, which previously had never been included in a phylogenetic analysis (Stull et al, 2015). This relationship had never been suggested before in the literature. It was mentioned that the recognized species are similar but distinguishable from each other based on the number of secondary nerves in the leaves, the size of the flowers, and the general leaf shape. Our general objective is to assess the morphological variability of the genus based on examinations of herbarium material, and to evaluate the monophyly of the genus and confirm its sister group based on phylogenetic analyses using the plastid genes ndhF and matK
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