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New Phylogeny of the Caesalpinioideae, Leguminosae

Caesalpinia cassioides from the Andes of South America © G. P. Lewis

This project aims to produce a comprehensive phylogeny for all caesalpinioid legumes currently recognised (171 genera) based on a combined analysis of morphological and molecular data. The phylogeny will serve as the basis for a new classification system, which is badly needed, and the foundation to explore patterns of morphological and molecular evolution. Although the Leguminosae is traditionally treated as consisting of three subfamilies the problem is that the Caesalpinioideae are not monophyletic. Preliminary analyses demonstrate that while some caesalpinioid lineages are basally branching in legumes, others are more closely related to Mimosoideae or Papilionoideae than they are to other caesalpinioids. Key questions are: 1) How many distinct lineages are there in 'Caesalpinioideae'?, 2) At what level should these be recognised relative to  Mimosoideae and Papilionoideae? and 3) What are the relationships among “caesalpinioid” legume genera? Targeted fieldwork aims to fill gaps at the generic level where fresh leaf material is needed for molecular analysis. Once we have a robust phylogeny and a specimen-based morphological data set in place we will be in a good position to explore the implications of the phylogeny with respect to patterns of morphological evolution, especially floral structure. In addition, data on a diverse array of fossil legumes will allow us to explore the implications of the palaeobotanical data.

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