Systematic Botany (2004), 29(3): pp. 569±586 q Copyright 2004 by the American Society of Plant Taxonomists A Morphological Cladistic Analysis of Olacaceae VALE RY MALE COT,1,4 DANIEL L. NICKRENT,2 PIETER BAAS,3 LEEN VAN DEN OEVER,3 and DANIELLE LOBREAU-CALLEN1 1Equipe d'Accueil 3496 Classi®cation Evolution et BiosysteÂmatique, Laboratoire de PaleÂobotanique et PaleÂoeÂcologie, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, 12 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France; 2Department of Plant Biology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois 62901-6509; 3National Herbarium, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9514, 2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands; 4Author for Correspondence. Present address: UMR A 462 SAGAH, Institut National d'Horticulture, 2 rue Le NoÃtre, 49045 Angers Cedex 01, France (
[email protected]) Communicating Editor: Gregory M. Plunkett ABSTRACT. A cladistic study based on morphological characters is presented for all 28 genera of Olacaceae as well as 26 representative genera from ®ve other families of Santalales: Loranthaceae, Misodendraceae, Opiliaceae, Santalaceae, and Viscaceae. The data matrix consists of 80 macro-morphological, palynological, and anatomical characters. The phylogenetic trees obtained show a paraphyletic Olacaceae with four main clades. Some of these clades are congruent with previously recognized tribes, but all of subfamilies are para- or polyphyletic. Examination of character transformations con®rms several assumptions of evolutionary trends within Olacaceae and Santalales, but others appear to be more complex than expected. Optimization of trophic mode on the consensus tree shows that root hemiparasitism had a single origin in Santalales. Whatever the optimization procedure used, the basal-most clade of Olacaceae consists of 12 genera, among which ®ve are known to be autotrophs, whereas the remaining three clades (15 genera) contain four genera known to be root parasites.