Resolving basal lamiid phylogeny and the circumscription of Icacinaceae with a plastome‐scale data set

Abstract

The lamiids possibly radiated from an ancestry of tropical trees with inconspicuous flowers and large, drupaceous fruits, given that these morphological characters are distributed across a grade of lineages (Icacinaceae, Oncothecaceae, Metteniusaceae) subtending the core lamiid clade (Boraginales, Gentianales, Lamiales, Solanales, Vahlia). Furthermore, the presence of similar morphological features among members of Aquifoliales suggests these characters might be ancestral for the Gentianidae (euasterids) as a whole.