PHYLOGENETIC IMPLICATIONS OF AN EXPANDED VALEPOTRIATE DISTRIBUTION INTHE VALERIANACEAE

A total of 27 taxa from the families Adoxaceae s.lat. (including Vibur naceae and Sambucaceae), Araliaceae, Caprifoliaceae, Dipsacaceae and V alerianaceae (including Triplostegia) have been analysed using thin-la yer chromatography (TLC) and combined high performance liquid chromato -graphy-mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS) in search for iridoid triesters of the valepotriate type. Valepotriates were detected unambigously in al l taxa studied of the Valerianaceae, but not in any of the other famil ies studied. The obtained results fall well in line with suggested phy logenies estimated from molecular and morphological data. This paper i ncludes the first reports of valepotriates in the genera Triplostegia and Nardostachys, and the first published fast atom bombardment (FAB) mass spectra of valepotriates. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd, All righ ts reserved.