XVI International Botanical Congess
The south-east Asian family Crypteroniaceae shares with Myrtales the two wood anatomical synapomorphies that define the order. The main goals of this study were to elucidate the circumscription and detailed phylogenetic relationships of Crypteroniaceae by using evidence from DNA sequences of the chloroplast gene rbcL. The tree obtained from parsimony analyses of rbcL sequences strongly supported the sister relationship between Crypteroniaceae and a clade comprising the monotypic south American family Alzateaceae and three small families endemic to southern Africa. The resulting phylogeny will be used as a framework for re-evaluating the evolution of morphological characters and biogeographical history of this clade.