XVI International Botanical Congess

Species within the genus Mimulus have become important models for the study of plant evolution however, the phylogenetic relationships among species of Mimulus are not clear.The monophyly of the the genus and the seven major sections within the genus were tested using sequences of the nuclear ITS and ETS regions and the chloroplast trnL intron/spacer.Data from over fifty taxa indicates that the genus is monophyletic. The sections Diplacus, Erythranthe, and Simiolus (with the exception of M. gemmiparus) are monophyletic, however, the section Eunanus is polyphyletic and the section Paradanthus is paraphyletic. In terms of evolution, woodiness has evolved secondarily in the section Diplacus and the species M. mohavensis and M. pictus demonstrate convergent evolution in their peculiar corolla form.