Fleshy fruits have evolved independently several times amongst Myrtaceae. Using a family-wide phylogeny, Biffin et al. (pp. 79–93) find that the parallel evolution of fleshy fruit was accompanied by a positive shift in diversification rates for the tribes Syzygieae and Myrteae, and that fleshy fruits may thus represent a ‘key innovation’ for evolution of rainforest Myrtaceae.
This is the first confirmed finding of Myrtaceidites eucalyptoides outside Australia.
Normally you would expect organs to change across evolutionary time. However, this is not always the case, and some clades can be species-rich, but still have very similar flowers.
Examination of 1 nuclear and 4 plastid markers produces a phylogeny supporting the need to unite the taxons of two traditional genera, Myrcia and Marlierea.
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botanyone
Erin Zimmerman
Alun Salt
