Almeidea A. St.-Hil. belongs to Conchocarpus J.C. Mikan (Galipeinae, Rutaceae): Evidence from morphological and molecular data, with a first analysis of subtribe galipeinae

Abstract

Subtribe Galipeinae (tribe Galipeeae, subfamily Rutoideae) is the most diverse group of Neotropical Rutaceae, with 28 genera and approximately 130 species. One of its genera is Almeidea, whose species are morphologically similar to those of the genus Conchocarpus. Species of Almeidea occur in the Atlantic Rain Forest of Eastern Brazil, with one species (Almeidea rubra) also present in Bolivia. The objective of this study was to perform a phylogenetic analysis of Almeidea, using a broader sampling of Galipeinae and other Neotropical Rutaceae, the first such study focused on this subtribe. To achieve this objective, morphological data and molecular data from the nuclear markers ITS-1 and ITS-2 and the plastid markers trnL-trnF and rps16 were obtained. Representatives of eight genera of Galipeinae and three genera of Pilocarpinae (included also in Galipeeae) and Hortia (closely related to Galipeeae) were used. Five species of Almeidea and seven of Conchocarpus were included, given the morphological proximity between these two genera. Individual (for each molecular marker) and combined phylogenetic analyses were made, using parsimony and Bayesian inference as optimization criteria. Results showed Galipeinae as monophyletic, with the species of Almeidea also monophyletic (supported by the presence of pantocolporate pollen) and nested in a clade with a group of species of Conchocarpus, a non-monophyletic group. Additionally, C. concinnus appeared in a group with Andreadoxa, Erythrochiton, and Neoraputia, other members of Galipeinae. As a result, Conchocarpus would be monophyletic only with the exclusion of a group of species related to C. concinnus and with the inclusion of all species of Almeidea with the group of species of Conchocarpus that includes its type species, C. macrophyllus. Thus, species of Almeidea are transferred to Conchocarpus, and the new combinations are made here.