Phylogenetic relationships among morphotypes of Caesalpinia echinata Lam. (Caesalpinioideae: Leguminosae) evidenced by trnL intron sequences.
Caesalpinia echinata (brazilwood or Pernambuco wood) comprises a complex of three morphological leaf variants, characterized by differences in the number and size of the pinnae and leaflets, and occurring in allopatric and sympatric populations. The present study evaluates the utility of the chloroplast DNA trnL intron in a phylogenetic analysis of the three leaf variants along with other species of Caesalpinia and generic relatives. Our study supports the hypothesis that the name C. echinata designates a species complex and provides evidence that one of the forms, the highly divergent C. echinata large-leafleted variant, represents a distinct taxon.
Juchum
Fabrício Sacramento
FS
Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Rodovia Ilhéus-Itabuna, km16, Salobrinho, CEP 45662-000, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil.
Costa
Marco Antônio
MA
Amorim
André Márcio
AM
Corrêa
Ronan Xavier
RX
D029911:Caesalpinia / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D002965:Classification / Q000379:methods*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D007438:Introns; D010802:Phylogeny; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics; D014934:Wood