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Systematics And Biogeography Of The Clusioid Clade (Malpighiales), Brad R. Ruhfel
Systematics And Biogeography Of The Clusioid Clade (Malpighiales), Brad R. Ruhfel
Brad R. Ruhfel
The clusioids are a clade of flowering plants in the diverse rosid order Malpighiales. It includes five families (i.e., Bonnetiaceae, Calophyllaceae, Clusiaceae sensu stricto, Hypericaceae, and Podostemaceae) that form a conspicuous element of tropical forests worldwide and are economically important. Their phylogenetic and biogeographical history has remained uncertain, however, which has hindered our understanding of their evolution. I conducted the first taxon-rich multigene analysis of this important clade to clarify their phylogenetic relationships (Chapter 1). Plastid (cp:matK, ndhF, and rbcL) and mitochondrial (mt: matR) nucleotide sequence data from nearly 200 taxa produced a well-resolved clusioid phylogeny and indicate that several …