Phylogenetic Relationships of the Geraniaceae and Geraniales from rbcL Sequence Comparisons

Abstract

Parsimony analyses of DNA sequence data from the chloroplast rbcL gene were used to assess the circumscription and phylogenetic position of the Geraniaceae, generic relationships within the family, and the affinities of the families previously assigned to the order Geraniales. The other families placed in the Geraniales in recent higher-order classifications fall into four well separated lineages, none of which appears to be closely related to the Geraniaceae. Only Hypseocharis, often included in the Oxalidaceae, receives strong support as a close relative to the monophyletic Geraniaceae sens. str., as suggested by Boesewinkel on the basis of seed anatomy