XVI International Botanical Congess
Published studies of sequence data from several genes (atpB, ndhF, rbcL) are equivocal on the placement of three genera of Matisieae (Matisia, Phragmotheca, and Quararibea), Ochroma and Patinoa (also traditionally Bombacaceae), and Chiranthodendron and Fremontodendron (traditionally Sterculiaceae), i.e., these genera may be sister to the clade containing traditional Malvaceae, rather than falling in the bombacoid clade. In this talk, I discuss the implications of new cpRFLP and ITS data for the placement of Matisieae and other potentially basal" genera of Bombacaceae" and Malvaceae. Also briefly considered are the correspondence of stamen morphology with tree topologies from these molecular studies and traditional and phylogenetic names available for the major clades of malvoids and bombacoids.