Classification History of the Melastomataceae: Early Beginnings Through the Pre-molecular Era

Abstract

The classification history of the Melastomataceae is straightforward. It is summarized in two parts, the early history prior to the appearance of Triana’s system followed by a chronological history of the major systems of classification of the pre-molecular era through 1993. The early history begins with Jussieu who first recognized the Melastomataceae as a natural assemblage in 1789, but much of the early conceptual framework for the family was subsequently established by David Don using the reproductive characters of fruits and seeds. One morphologically anomalous group comprising the paleotropical Memecylon, the Neotropical Mouriri and Votomita, and three other allied paleotropical genera (Lijndenia, Spathandra, and Warneckea) has been repeatedly included and excluded from the Melastomataceae beginning in the early 1800s. The status of Pternandra (Kibessioideae) has also received varying treatments by students of the family. Evidence is reviewed by summarizing arguments for the inclusion of Pternandra and Memecylon and allied genera as separate subfamilies in the broadly defined Melastomataceae. The major systems of classification by Candolle (1828a), Hooker (1867), Triana (1866; 1871 [1872]), Cogniaux (1891), Krasser (1893), van Vliet et al. (1981), and Renner (1993) are compared and evaluated.