XVI International Botanical Congess

Miers described the extremely anomalous and curious" Chilean genus Cyphocarpus in 1848 for a small, spiny annual of the southern Atacama Desert. Because of the bizarre floral morphology, Miers proposed that, minimally, Cyphocarpus be the type for a new tribe in the Campanulaceae, although he preferred the new family Cyphocarpacear. Over the past 150 years, the genus has been either loosely allied with Cyphia Bergius and Nemacladus Nutt. At various taxonomic levels and considered transitional between the lobelioids and campanuloids or it has been isolated from the other cyphioid" genera as an enigmatic taxon. Correct placement of the genus has been thwarted because of the lack of material available for study due to the correlated appearance of these rare desert annuals with El Ninő events. The 1997-1998 El Ninő provided ample material for phylogenetic studies to ascertain the correct placement of Cyphocarpus. Based upon corroborated, independent morphological and molecular evidence, the genus is referred to the Lobelioideae. The unique morphology of Cyphocarpus may be an extreme example of evolutionary adaptation to a novel environment.