XVI International Botanical Congess
The basal tribes of mimosoid legumes contain about 40 genera. The relationships among these genera have been controversial with little agreement among the previous classifications. A cladistic analysis based on sequences from a chloroplast gene (trnL) are combined with morphological data to formulate an explicit phylogenetic hypothesis. The results are generally congruent with the preliminary groups proposed by Lewis and Elias in 1981. The genera Adenanthera, Pentaclethra, and Elephantorrhiza are sister to the rest of the Mimoseae. This study agrees with previous findings that the Dichrostachys and Leucaena groups are not monophyletic, and supports the transfer of Desmanthus to the Leucaena group. The genus Parkia is nested within the Mimoseae rather than as sister to Pentaclethra. Thus, the Parkieae is an unnatural assemblage and should be abandoned.