XVI International Botanical Congess

The Australasian genus Hibbertia (ca. 150 sp.), famous for its diverse floral and vegetative morphology, was subjected to a phylogenetic analysis using sequences of the ITS and rpl16 intron regions. Parsimony analysis of combined data strongly supports the recognition of 2 major clades within the genus. One clade includes all of the taxa with zygomorphic androecia, plus the actinomorphic-flowered series Vestitae, which like many of the other taxa in this clade possess reduced, ericoid leaves. The second, exclusively actinomorphic-flowered clade includes a monophyletic section Candollea, which is traditionally defined on the basis of having fascicled stamens. The morphological concept of this section will have to be re-evaluated and expanded as Western Australian Hibbertia with entirely free stamens are embedded within the Candollea group.