Calceolaria L., Jovellana Ruiz & Pav., and Porodittia G. Don (=Stemotria Wettst. &
Harms) toghether constitute the family Calceolariaceae consisting of approximately
300 species distributed manily in South America. The present thesis shows that using
morphology as basis for sectional delimitations in the genus Calceolaria is not
sufficient to define monophyletic groups. Comparing information from nuclear versus
chloroplast sequence data reveal extensive topological discordance, neither of which
can easily be related to morphological features. The putative sister relationship
between Calceolaria and Jovellana is confirmed, while the phylogenetic position of
Porodittia is revealed to be nested deep inside Calceolaria.
For Jovellana, a small genus present disjunctly across the Pacific Ocean in South
America and New Zealand, a taxonomic revision suggest synonymisation of two
previousy recognised species in New Zealand with a larger circumscribed J. sinclairii
while the distributional disjunction is revealed as a result of long distance dispersal of
recent date.
This thesis also explores the presumed close relationship between the origin of the
Andes and the evlutionary distriution history of Calceolaria. Biogeographic models
for reconstruction of ancestral areas are used to estimate the orgin of the family. By
extending the model to simultaneous estiamation of ancestral area in three dimensions
based in specimen data a correlation between the uplift history of the Andes and the
radiation events of Calceolaria can be established. By optimising morphological traits
relating to growth habit and pollination of the genus in a phylogenetic framework, and
relating these to the ancestral area reconstruction and the uplift history of the Andes, a
suggested radiation pattern for Calceolaria can be established. This pattern follow a
south to north trend with an origin in lowland Chile or low Andean slopes, with
subsequent radiations to the north correlated with the Altiplano region and the
Huancabamba deflection. The pattern also show a correlation between the uplift
history of the Andes and the radiation of Calceolaria. This further suggests that the
divergence patterns of a group of species cannot be understood without extensive
information on not only the phylogeny, but also the prefferred ecological niches and
other mechanisms important for radiation success
