Systematic Botany (2010), 35(4): pp. 827–838 © Copyright 2010 by the American Society of Plant Taxonomists DOI 10.1600/036364410X539899 Taxonomic Revision of the Endangered Hawaiian Red-flowered Sandalwoods ( Santalum ) and Discovery of an Ancient Hybrid Species Danica T. Harbaugh 1 , 4 , 5 , Hank L. Oppenheimer 2 , Kenneth R. Wood 3 , and Warren L. Wagner 1 1 Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, MRC166, PO Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012 U. S. A. 2 Plant Extinction Prevention Program, Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit, University of Hawaii, 34 Pi`ina Place, Lahaina, Hawai’i 96761 U. S. A. 3 National Tropical Botanical Garden, 3530 Papalina Rd, Kalaheo, Kaua`i, Hawai’i 96741 U. S. A. 4 Current address: 1001 Valley Life Sciences Bldg. #2465, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720-2465 5 Author for correspondence (
[email protected] ) Communicating Editor: Marty Wojciechowski Abstract— The Hawaiian Islands are home to a quarter of the named diversity of sandalwoods in the genus Santalum . There has been con- siderable confusion on how to best interpret the variation patterns of the red-flowered Hawaiian sandalwoods, S. freycinetianum and S. haleaka- lae , and particularly of the endangered S. freycinetianum var. lanaiense in an appropriate taxonomy. In this study, nrDNA (ITS, ETS) and cpDNA (3′ trnK intron) sequence, microsatellite, and morphological data are integrated to appropriately revise the taxonomy of this group by better understanding the genetic and morphological diversity within and between populations. Results reveal that populations of S. freycinetianum from O`ahu are genetically distinct from populations on Moloka`i, Lana`i, and Maui.