PHYLOGENY OF LABIATAE AND VERBENACEAE INFERRED FROM RBCL SEQUENCES

Parsimony analysis of rbcL sequences supports monophyly of the Labiata e s.l., which includes the Labiatae, subfamilies Caryopteridoideae, Ch loanthoideae, and Viticoideae of the Verbenaceae, and Symphoremataceae . Representatives of subfamily Verbenoideae (Verbenaceae s. str.) do n ot form a monophyletic group with the Labiatae s.l. Avicennia (Avicenn iaceae), Cyclocheilon (Nesogenaceae), and Euthystachys and Retzia (Sti lbaceae), included in the Verbenaceae by many authors, are distinct fr om the Labiatae s.l. and Verbenaceae s. sh: The inferred phylogeny als o provides a framework to interpret character evolution. Results sugge st that uniovulate locules have evolved in at least two lineages of La miales s.l. and that a gynoecium with four locules by the development of false partitions apparently has evolved independently in the Labiat ae s.l. and the Verbenaceae s. sir. Whereas a dry fruit is plesiomorph ic in the Lamiales s.l., a fleshy fruit is plesiomorphic in the Labiat ae s.l. with possible reversal in four lineages.