Systematics of Amaryllidaceae based on cladistic analysis of plastid rbcL and trnL-F sequence data

Cladistic analyses of plastid DNA sequences rDcL and trnL-F are presented s eparately and combined for 48 genera of Amaryllidaceae and 29 genera of rel ated asparagalean families. The combined analysis is the most highly resolv ed of the three and provides good support for the monophyly of Amaryllidace ae and indicates Agapanthaceae as its sister family. Alliaceae are in turn sister to the Amaryllidaceae/Agapanthaceae clade. The origins of the family appear to be western Gondwanaland (Africa), and infrafamilial relationship s are resolved along biogeographic lines. Tribe Amaryllideae, primarily Sou th African, is sister to the rest of Amaryllidaceae; this tribe is supporte d by numerous morphological synapomorphies as well. The remaining two Afric an tribes of the family, Haemantheae and Cyrtantheae, are well supported, b ut their position relative to the Australasian Calostemmateae and a large c lade comprising the Eurasian and American genera, is not yet clear The Eura sian and American elements of the family are each monophyletic sister clade s. Internal resolution of the Eurasian clade only partially supports curren tly accepted tribal concepts, and few conclusions can be drawn on the relat ionships of the genera based on these data. A monophyletic Lycorideae (Cent ral and East Asian) is weakly supported. Galanthus and Leucojum (Galantheae pro parte) are supported as sister genera by the bootstrap. The American c lade shows a higher degree of internal resolution. Hippeastreae (minus Grif finia and Worsleya) are well supported, and Zephyranthinae are resolved as a distinct subtribe. An Andean clade marked by a chromosome number of 2n = 46 (and derivatives thereof) is resolved with weak support. The plastid DNA phylogenies are discussed in the context of biogeography and character evo lution in the family.