Systematics and Evolution of Tribe Pyramieae

Abstract

Pyramieae contains 68 species belonging to three genera: Cambessedesia, Huberia, and Merianthera. We review the systematics and evolution of Pyramieae, including the history of tribal placement of the genera, phylogenetic relationships, taxonomy with emphasis on morphological characters that define the tribe and its genera, and general ecology and evolution. The Brazilian members of Pyramieae are mostly microendemic to the eastern mountains of Brazil, predominantly found in the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado. Cambessedesia has 25 species that occur almost entirely in the Brazilian campos rupestres. Huberia has 37 species, most of which are endemic to campos de altitude of the Atlantic Forest, with four of them endemic to the Andes of Ecuador and Peru. Merianthera comprises seven species largely endemic to granitic/gneissic inselbergs on rocky outcrops in the Atlantic Forest and two species to campos rupestres.