University of Missouri, St. Louis IRL @ UMSL Dissertations UMSL Graduate Works 7-30-2008 Systematics and Floral Evolution in the Plant Genus Garcinia (Clusiaceae) Patrick Wayne Sweeney University of Missouri-St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation Part of the Biology Commons Recommended Citation Sweeney, Patrick Wayne, "Systematics and Floral Evolution in the Plant Genus Garcinia (Clusiaceae)" (2008). Dissertations. 539. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/539 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the UMSL Graduate Works at IRL @ UMSL. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of IRL @ UMSL. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. SYSTEMATICS AND FLORAL EVOLUTION IN THE PLANT GENUS GARCINIA (CLUSIACEAE) by PATRICK WAYNE SWEENEY M.S. Botany, University of Georgia, 1999 B.S. Biology, Georgia Southern University, 1994 A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate School of the UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI- ST. LOUIS In partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in BIOLOGY with an emphasis in Plant Systematics November, 2007 Advisory Committee Elizabeth A. Kellogg, Ph.D. Peter F. Stevens, Ph.D. P. Mick Richardson, Ph.D. Barbara A. Schaal, Ph.D. © Copyright 2007 by Patrick Wayne Sweeney All Rights Reserved Sweeney, Patrick, 2007, UMSL, p. 2 Dissertation Abstract The pantropical genus Garcinia (Clusiaceae), a group comprised of more than 250 species of dioecious trees and shrubs, is a common component of lowland tropical forests and is best known by the highly prized fruit of mangosteen (G. mangostana L.). The genus exhibits as extreme a diversity of floral form as is found anywhere in angiosperms and there are many unresolved taxonomic issues surrounding the genus.