A morphological cladistic analysis of Lecythidoideae with emphasis on Bertholletia, Corythophora, Eschweilera, and Lecythis 1 2 3 YA-YI HUANG ,SCOTT A. MORI , AND LAWRENCE M. KELLY 1 The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd., Bronx, NY 10458-5126, U.S.A. Current address: Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan; e-mail: lecy.yhuang@ gmail.com 2 Institute of Systematic Botany, The New YorkBotanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd., Bronx( NY 10458-5126, U.S.A.; e-mail:
[email protected] 3 The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd., Bronx( NY 10458-5126, U.S.A.; e-mail:
[email protected] Abstract. A cladistic analysis was conducted to test the monophyly of Eschweilera and Lecythis as well as to examine the relationships of these two genera and their close relatives Bertholletia and Corythophora. The study included 86 species, represent- ing all four genera and covering the range of taxonomic and morphological variation in the genera. The data matrix included 49 parsimony-informative characters derived from vegetative, floral, fruit, and seed morphology and anatomy. The results based on the consensus of all most parsimonious trees indicate that Bertholletia, Corythophora, Eschweilera,andLecythis form a clade supported by brachyparacytic stomata, the absence of pedicels (with subsequent reversals in several clades), a two or four- locular ovary, the presence of an aril, and the absence of cotyledons. Within the clade, the monophyly of Corythophora is supported by the presence of inflores- cence scales and the absence of nectar. Eschweilera is monophyletic only if E. congestiflora and E. simiorum are excluded. The monophyly of Eschweilera is supported by the presence of a two-locular ovary.