Taxonomy of Neopringlea (Flacourtiaceae)

Abstract

In the first complete taxonomic treatment of Neopringlea, a group of shrubs wide- spread in Mexico and Guatemala, three species are recognized: N. integrifolia, N. viscosa, and N. trinervia. The taxonomic affinities of Neopringlea have long remained unclear; the genus is here treated as a member of the large tropical family Flacourtiaceae. Neopringlea comprises a group of rather non- descript shrubs native to the sierras of eastern and southern Mexico and adjacent Guatemala and has long remained of uncertain taxonomic position. Since its original description (as Lla- vea) by Liebmann in 1853, Neopringlea has been allied with at least five different families: Ce- lastraceae (Liebmann 1853; Bentham and Hooker 1862), Hippocrateaceae (Kuntze 1891), Simaroubaceae (Watson 1891), Sapindaceae (Standley 1924), and Flacourtiaceae (Hallier 1908; Hutchinson 1959). Scant attention has been paid to the genus by contemporary phy- logenetic systematists. Neither Cronquist (1968, 1981) nor Takhtajan (1969, 1980) dealt with the placement of the genus; Thorne (1981), at the suggestion of the present author, placed Neo- pringlea in Flacourtiaceae. This taxonomic confusion has doubtlessly re- sulted from a combination of factors including poor representation of the genus in most major herbaria and the lack of flowering material on those specimens that are available. Indeed, most collectors seem to have been attracted only to plants bearing the distinctive three-winged fruits and have virtually ignored or overlooked flowering material altogether. When collected, the minute flowers are seldom well-preserved and do not readily lend themselves to analysis of their structure.