XVI International Botanical Congess

We conducted phylogenetic analysis of nuclear rDNA ITS sequences from Maloideae s.l., including the dry-fruited genera Kageneckia, Lindleya, and Vauquelinia. The results suggested that these three genera form a relatively well supported group (the dry-fruited group). Most analyses placed the dry-fruited group at the base of Maloideae s.l. A basal position for the dry-fruited group is consistent with the ancestral maloids having been dry-fruited. Lindleya of the dry-fruited group has hypanthia that expand to enclose the base of the mature capsule fruit. This evidence suggests that fruits enclosed by hypanthia and fleshiness did not necessarily originate together. It also suggests that there could have been more than one origin of hypanthia that enclose the fruit.