XVI International Botanical Congess

Tococa is a neotropical genus of about 55 species of small trees and shrubs, two thirds of which present ant domatia at the base of the leaf. Myrmidone, a small genus of ant-plants have been suggested to be nested within Tococa. The present study aims to assess whether or not Tococa is monophyletic, and the nature of the relationships between Myrmidone and Tococa. A morphological cladistic analysis was conducted using vegetative and reproductive characters. Traditionally, anther and calyx morphology, as well as the position of the domatia have been used in studies dealing with the sectional delimitation of the genus. Other characters such as anther color and seed morphology were also included in the study. The cladistic analysis reveals that with the exception of 6 species that come out nested within Miconia, Tococa and Myrmidone form a monophyletic clade