XVI International Botanical Congess

I present the current state of knowledge concerning the taxonomy and biogeography of _Chione_ DC. (Rubiaceae), a genus of rare trees and shrubs native to neotropical wet forests. I describe the distinguishing morphological characteristics of this genus and why they have led me to hypothesize _Chione_ to be polyphyletic. I am developing DNA sequence data (from 5S-NTS and ITS 1&2 regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA) to supplement morphological characters in constructing intrageneric phylogenetic hypotheses for _Chione_. Of the presently recognized fifteen _Chione_ species, seven are reported from parts of Mexico and Central America and eight from the Caribbean islands. Raising the questions of where the genus originated and how it came to occupy its current range, I display distribution maps of _Chione_ species.