XVI International Botanical Congess

The biogeography of the West Indies includes a complex geological history, islands with unique histories, and biota ranging from pan-Caribbean species to single island endemics. Interspecific, phylogenetic relationships of three endemic genera, Erithalis, Ernodea and Neolaugeria were investigated using sequences of the ITS. The biogeographical histories were reconstructed to ascertain patterns of colonization events in the Caribbean Basin. Neolaugeria exhibits a route of migration and speciation from the Lesser Antilles northward to the Bahamas and Greater Antilles. However, elucidation of patterns of colonization events are morecomplex in Erithalis and Ernodea, with preliminary data indicating multiple routes of migration to these islands.