ABDUL-SALIM, KOBINAH. Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Ave., Cambridge, MA, 02138. - "Out of Africa" revisited: developments in the systematics of Symphonia (Clusiaceae), with implications for biogeography.
The genus Symphonia (Clusiaceae) is comprised of 26 species, 24
in Madagascar and two in Africa and the New World tropics.
Phylogenetic analysis using the internal transcribed spacer region of
nrDNA revealed the presence of two monophyletic groups separating the
Malagasy species with those from Africa and the neotropics.
Calibration of this tree indicated an African origin and subsequent
long-distance dispersals occurring in the mid-late Tertiary.
Significant heterogeneity in morphological variation between the two
clades was found, which may be correlated with the ages of
divergence.
Key words: biogeography, Clusiaceae, ITS, morphological variation, Symphonia