JUDD, WALTER S.*, KATHLEEN A. KRON, ARNE A. ANDERBERG, DARREN M. CRAYN, CHRISTOPHER J. QUINN, AND PETER S. STEVENS. Department of Botany, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611; Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109; Department of Phanerogamic Botany, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden; School of Biological Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia; Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138. - Major clades of Ericaceae I: Morphology.
Phylogenetic relationships within the Ericaceae were assessed through
a cladistic analysis of 121 phenotypic characters (incl. morphology,
anatomy, pollen structure, embryology, secondary chemistry, and
chromosome number). Enkianthus was resolved as sister to the
remaining members of the family, within which several well supported
clades were apparent, i.e., pyroloids (leaves distinctly
pseudoverticillate, petals separate), monotropoids (chlorophyll
absent), pyroloids + monotropoids (± herbaceous, embryo reduced),
arbutoids (few to single ovule/locule, fruits indehiscent, fleshy,
with bony endocarp, ellagic acid), empetroids (perianth parts free,
stigma flabellate, style ± sessile, one ovule/locule), rhodoroids
(corolla zygomorphic, perulate inflorescences), epacrids (epidermis
lignified, stamens less than twice corolla lobes, anthers
bisporangiate), lyonids (bands of fibers in phloem, epidermis
lignified, S-shaped filaments), and vaccinids (ovary inferior, fruit
indehiscent, fleshy). Relationships among these groups are poorly
resolved. Genera traditionally placed in Epacridaceae, Empetraceae,
Pyrolaceae, and Monotropoideae are embedded among various Ericaceae,
supporting a broadened circumscription of the family. Most of these
clades are also well supported in the molecular analyses.
Key words: cladistics, Ericaceae, morphology