Is Persea (Lauraceae) monophyletic? Evidence from nuclear ribosomal ITS sequences

Abstract

The delimitation of genera within the Persea group (Lauraceae) has always been controversial. In an attempt to resolve the phylogenetic lines within this group, we analyzed ITS sequences of 61 species of the Persea group (Lauraceae) and 30 other species of Lauraceae. Several of the traditional genera or subgenera form well­supported groups, viz., Persea subg. Eriodaphne, Machilus, Persea subg. Persea, and Alseodaphne including Dehaasia. The included species of Phoebe form two clades that are unresolved with respect to Alseodaphne. However, Persea subg. Eriodaphne (together with the Macaronesian Apollonias barbujana) forms one of the clades of an unresolved basal trichotomy within the Persea group, whereas Persea subg. Persea is well supported as member of an otherwise Asian clade including Alseodaphne and Phoebe. This indicates that Persea, as currently circumscribed, is not monophyletic. The affinities of the Macaronesian Persea indica are clearly American rather than Asian.

The first record of Lauraceae fossil woods from the Cretaceous Puerto Yeruá Formation of eastern Argentina and palaeobiogeographic implications

“…An alternative explanation is the long-distance dispersal hypothesis. Rohwer et al (2009) considered this less likely: the Macaronesian Islands are far too young for a Cretaceous disjunction and a long dispersal in the opposite direction, from America to Macaronesia, seems unlikely too for the present authors because Persea indica appears nested among the American species in their analysis. However, this last hypothesis appears to be a possible explanation for the AmericaneMacaronesian disjunction between neotropical Persea species and the Macaronesian species for Li et al (2011).…”

“…Mountain building in Central America created new habitats in which speciation could take place (Scora and Bergh, 1992). Later, Rohwer et al (2009) considered two possible hypotheses to explain the AmericaneMacaronesian disjunction pattern of the Persea group. One is the relict hypothesis: Macaronesian species of Lauraceae may well be interpreted as relicts from the EuropeanMediterranean Cenozoic laurel forest.…”

“…The Persea group sensu Rohwer et al (2009) consists of seven currently recognized genera: Alseodaphne Nees, Apollonias Nees, Dehaasia Blume, Machilus Rumphius ex Nees, Nothaphoebe Blume, Persea Mill. and Phoebe Nees, including a total of c. 400 to 450 species.…”

Comparative wood anatomy of 56 species of Lauraceae from Yunnan, China

“…The taxonomical study of morphological features and molecular phylogeny, etc., have been reported previously (Raj and Werff 1988; Van der Merwe et al 1990;Christophel et al 1996;Heo et al 1998;Rohwer 2000;Nishida and Van der Werff 2007;Rohwer et al 2009). In general, the division of the family according to inflorescence structure and palynology is consistent (Kostermans 1957;Raj and Werff 1988), and results of wood and bark anatomy researches are similar with those of embryological studies (Van Der Werff and Richter 1996;Heo et al 1998).…”

Characterization of HawaiianCryptocarya(Lauraceae): Recognition of a Critically Endangered Species and Relation to Non-Hawaiian Congeners

“…Cryptocarya (Lauraceae) is a pantropical and subtropical genus of evergreen trees on all continents with up to 350 species recognized (Rohwer 1993), although this estimate may be high (Rohwer et al 2014). Flowers are perfect and trimerous with stamen typically in three whorls, three relatively large staminodes, and the receptacular tube enlarged to surround the ovary and becoming adnate to the fruit as it matures.…”