XVI International Botanical Congess

To provide the first phylogenetic estimate of the woody flowering plant family Styracaceae an analysis was conducted using 34 morphological characters from 32 species representing nine genera. Parsimony analysis with Clethra (Clethraceae) as outgroup resulted in 30 equally most parsimonious trees, the strict consensus of which exhibited a clade consisting of Huodendron, Bruinsmia, and Styrax, and another containing the rest of the genera. All genera were monophyletic. Results were consistent with a recent rbcL analysis in placing Styrax and the genera Halesia, Sinojackia, and Rehderodendron in separate clades. The diphyly of the family, as suggested by rbcL, will be tested with morphological data through inclusion of additional outgroups.