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Phylogenetics and Taxonomy of the Tribe Merianieae

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Systematics, Evolution, and Ecology of Melastomataceae

Abstract

The tribe Merianieae is a strictly Neotropical group with ca. 300 species in eight genera: Adelobotrys, Axinaea, Centronia, Graffenrieda, Macrocentrum, Maguireanthus, Meriania, and Salpinga. The tribe is characterized by diplostemonous flowers, anthers with simple to complex dorsal connective appendages, lacking ventral appendages, short or absent pedoconnectives, superior or partly superior ovaries, and capsular fruits. The majority of species have terminal inflorescences, pyramidal and cuneate seeds, and subulate anther thecae, but there is a remarkable amount of variation in habit, calyx, and androecial morphology. Phylogenetic analyses have shown that Salpinga is the only monophyletic genus as currently defined, but most clades are well supported by morphology and geography. Taxonomic realignments should wait until the tribe is better sampled with a higher number of species and loci.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation for support: DEB-0818399, DEB-1146409, and DEB-1343612 and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) P-30669 and T-1886. We wish to thank several colleagues for the assistance in the field, providing tissue for DNA extractions and/or photographs: Julián Aguirre Santoro, Marcela Alvear, Lucas F. Bacci, Eldis Bécquer, Thuane Bochorny, Janelle Burke, Wilder Carmenate, John L. Clark, Douglas Daly, Angel Fernández, Walter Judd, Michael Nee, Diego Paredes Burneo, Paola Pedraza, Aleks Radosavljecic, Karen Reeden, Sebastián Riva, J. Dan Skean Jr., Andrew Short, Jason Wells, and Ken Wurdack. We thank Jhon Steven Murillo-Serna and an anonymous reviewer for valuable comments that helped improve an earlier version of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Systematic Botany, The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY, USA

    Fabián A. Michelangeli

  2. Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Agnes S. Dellinger

  3. Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Centro Politécnico, Curitiba, PR, Brazil

    Renato Goldenberg

  4. Department of Botany, Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Frank Almeda

  5. Jardín Botánico de Bogotá, Bogotá, DC, Colombia

    Humberto Mendoza-Cifuentes

  6. Herbario Nacional del Ecuador QCNE, Unidad de Investigación, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Quito, Ecuador

    Diana Fernández-Fernández

  7. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Carmen Ulloa Ulloa

  8. Department of Biology and Marine Biology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USA

    Darin S. Penneys

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Correspondence to Fabián A. Michelangeli .

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  1. Departamento de Botânica Centro Politécnico, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil

    Renato Goldenberg

  2. Institute of Systematic Botany, The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY, USA

    Fabián A. Michelangeli

  3. Department of Botany, Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Frank Almeda

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Michelangeli, F.A. et al. (2022). Phylogenetics and Taxonomy of the Tribe Merianieae. In: Goldenberg, R., Michelangeli, F.A., Almeda, F. (eds) Systematics, Evolution, and Ecology of Melastomataceae. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99742-7_11

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