Subgeneric delimitation of the plant genus Phyllanthus (Phyllanthaceae)

Over two centuries of taxonomic studies on the species rich genus Phyllanthus have culminated in a broad and complicated classification with many subgenera and (sub)sections. Past taxonomic work has only focused on local revisions, mostly because of the size of the genus. In this study we aim to summarize most of the taxonomic work in a list containing the infrageneric delimitations of Phyllanthus. This work will serve as a reference, placing most currently recognized species in subgenera and if possible, in sections for further study. Here we recognize 880 species of Phyllanthus, classified in 18 subgenera, 70 sections and 14 subsections. A few taxonomic changes are necessary to reconcile published phylogenetic data with the current classification. Subsections Callidisci and Odontadenii are raised to sectional rank, while section Eleutherogynium and section Physoglochidion are reduced to subsections and P. oxycarpus is transferred to the genus Glochidion. A provisional key for the subgeneric classification of Phyllanthus is provided

Molecular phylogenetic study of the tribe Tropidieae (Orchidaceae, Epidendroideae) with taxonomic and evolutionary implications

The orchid tribe Tropidieae comprises three genera, Tropidia, Corymborkis and Kalimantanorchis. There are three fully mycoheterotrophic species within Tropidieae: Tropidia saprophytica, T. connata and  Kalimantanorchis nagamasui. A previous phylogenetic study of K. nagamasui, based only on plastid matK data, placed K. nagamasui outside the clade of Tropidia and Corymborkis without support. In this study, we performed phylogenetic analyses using a nuclear ribosomal DNA spacer (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2), a low-copy nuclear coding gene (Xdh) and a mitochondrial intron (nad1b-c intron) to study the phylogenetic relationships within Tropidieae. We included six photosynthetic and all three fully mycoheterotrophic Tropidieae species. The resulting phylogenetic trees placed these fully mycoheterotrophic species inside the Tropidia clade with high support. In our trees, these three species do not form a monophyletic group together, because the photosynthetic T. graminea is nested amongst them. Our results also suggest that the loss of photosynthetic ability occurred at least twice in Tropidia. Plant science