Org. Divers. Evol. 2, 239–269 (2002)
© Urban & Fischer Verlag
http://www.urbanfischer.de/journals/ode
Cynanchum and the Cynanchinae (Apocynaceae – Asclepiadoideae):
a molecular, anatomical and latex triterpenoid study
Sigrid Liede1,*, Henning Kunze2
1
2
Department of Plant Systematics, University of Bayreuth, Germany
Minden, Germany
Received 22 April 2002 · Accepted 29 July 2002
Abstract
The phylogeny of the genus Cynanchum s. str. is studied using cpDNA spacers and ITS. Morphological, anatomical and latex triterpenoid data
are interpreted in light of the molecular results, and discrepancies are discussed. Vegetative characters are better indicators of relationship than
floral characters, especially corona characters. The monophyly of all Malagasy species and, nested within the latter, of all stem-succulent taxa is
ascertained and the genera Folotsia, Karimbolea, Platykeleba and Sarcostemma are subsumed under Cynanchum. One African species, C. galgalense, is excluded from Cynanchum.
Key words: Asclepiadoideae, cpDNA, ITS, latex triterpenoids, molecular phylogeny, stem anatomy
Introduction
The speciose genus Cynanchum L. has long been a
“dustbin genus” for everything with a gynostegial, at
least basally fused corona, C(is) sensu Liede & Kunze
(1993). In the New World, the concept of Cynanchum
was particularly confused since Woodson (1941) united
a whole range of genera under Cynanchum, based mainly on North American material. But unlike Asclepias L.,
New World Cynanchum was never homogeneous. Sundell (1981) revised the most distinct subgenus Mellichampia (A.Gray ex S. Watson) Sundell, characterized
by comparatively large flowers and heart-shaped leaves
with “stipules” (extremely reduced short shoots with a
pair of smaller and sometimes differently shaped
leaves). Analysis of New World and Old World members
of Cynanchum L. using cpDNA spacers (Liede & Täuber in press) has shown that in the New World only subgen. Mellichampia is correctly associated with Cynanchum s. str., whereas all other former members of the
genus belong to an unrelated, exclusively American
group of genera. Liede & Täuber (in press) restricted
subtribe Metastelminae Endl. ex Meisn. to the American
genera, and resurrected subtribe Cynanchinae K.
Schum. for Cynanchum s. str. (incl. subgen. Mellichampia) and some smaller, related genera, exclusively
of Old World origin.
In the Old World, Vincetoxicum Wolf was suggested
by Liede (1996a) to be a relative of Tylophora R. Br.,
rather than of Cynanchum, based on chemistry. This has
been supported by various molecular studies (Civeyrel
et al. 1998; Sennblad & Bremer 2000, 2002; Liede
2001). The cpDNA spacer analysis (Liede & Täuber in
press), however, showed that even in the Old World the
generic concept of Cynanchum is more complex than
hitherto assumed, and that some of the small Asian genera (e.g., Metaplexis R. Br.) probably ought to be included in Cynanchum. In addition, this study indicated that
the Old World stem succulent genera Folotsia Costantin
& Bois, Karimbolea Desc., Platykeleba N. E. Br., and
Sarcostemma R. Br. are nested within the Malagasy subclade of Cynanchum. However, Liede & Täuber (in
press) refrained from nomenclatural consequences both
in the New World and in the Old World, because a single
dataset was not considered sufficient for the extensive
nomenclatural changes necessary to reflect these new results. The present paper focuses on Cynanchum s. str., in
particular on the status of the small succulent genera
*Corresponding author: Sigrid Liede, Department of Plant Systematics, University of Bayreuth, D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany; e-mail:
sigrid.liede@uni-bayreuth.de
1439-6092/02/02/03-239 $ 15.00/0
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
240
Liede & Kunze
(Folotsia, Karimbolea, Platykeleba, Sarcostemma),
using evidence from a second molecular marker, ITS, as
well as from stem anatomy and triterpenoid analysis.
modified protocol based on Baldwin (1992) described in
Meve & Liede (2001). ITS sequences of 87 species were
obtained for the present study, two sequences have been
used in a previous study of the senior author.
Materials and methods
Data analysis. cpDNA sequences were pre-aligned with
Perkin Elmer Sequence Navigator Version 1.0.1, the
alignment then adjusted manually. The alignment comprises 92 taxa and 2178 characters; 129 data cells and
the whole trnT-L spacer of C. schistoglossum were unknown. In the trnL-F spacer, bp755–806 were excluded
from all analyses, because alignment in this region is
ambiguous.
Indels were coded as “missing characters“; parsimony informative indels were coded separately as present/absent following the “simple gap coding” method
of Simmons & Ochoterena (2000). Indels present or absent only in different accessions of the same species
were not coded. Indels of doubtful homology (e.g.,
bp186–188, 186–189 in the trnT-L spacer of C. obtusifolium and C. madagascariense, respectively) were not
coded, nor were indels caused by variable length of a
chain of at least four repeats of the same base, because
the length of these chains was found to vary even within
the same species (Verhoeven et al. in press). In total, 48
indels were coded, 32 in the trnT-L spacer, 9 in the trnL
intron and 7 in the trnL-F spacer.
Sequences of rDNA were pre-aligned with Perkin
Elmer Sequence Navigator Version 1.0.1, the alignment
then adjusted manually. The alignment comprises 89
taxa and 827 characters, 27 data cells are unknown. Separate coding of indels was not conducted because of the
heterogeneity of the dataset. All alignments are available
from the senior author and can be viewed in TreeBase
(Sanderson et al. 1994): study accession number = S776,
matrix accession numbers = M1230, M1231.
Sequence analysis, phylogenetic analysis and tests for
clade support were performed using PAUP (Swofford
1998), version 4.0b5 (PPC), on a MacIntosh G3 Powerbook.
Sequence divergence among taxa was calculated
using the “Show Pairwise Distance” option for the trnTL spacer, the trnL intron and the trnL-F spacer, as well as
for 5.8s, ITS1 and ITS2 (excluding the end of 18s and the
beginning of 26s). Beginning and end of ITS1 and ITS2
were determined by comparison with Asclepiadoideae
sequences submitted to EMBL (AJ402152–AJ402162,
Meve & Liede 2001).
As the dataset was too large for complete analysis, a
search strategy in two steps was performed in all parsimony analyses in order to find as many tree islands as
possible. First, starting trees were obtained (addition sequence random, 1000 replicates, TBR branch swapping,
“MulTrees” off, “steepest descent” off). The resulting
shortest starting trees were then subjected to TBR
DNA sequence analysis
Taxa. Following the results of Liede & Täuber (in
press), Schizostephanus alatus was chosen as outgroup.
More distantly related outgroups such as members of the
Asclepiadinae (sensu Liede 1997b) or Tylophorinae
(sensu Liede 2001) were not included in the analysis, because alignment of ITS sequences is problematic between members of different subtribes, and no other basal
member of Cynanchinae has yet been identified among
the 67 out of approx. 100 genera of Asclepiadeae for
which cpDNA sequences are available (Liede 2001;
Liede & Täuber 2000, in press; Liede et al. 2002, and
unpubl.). The ingroup comprises 91 accessions and 85
species, because two different accessions were included
for six species (Pentarrhinum somaliense, C. falcatum,
C. galgalense, C. gerrardii, C. orangeanum, C. thesioides; Table 1, see there for authors of species). For
C. chouxii, C. ligulatum, and one accession of C. galgalense, no ITS sequence could be obtained, for C.
schistoglossum, the trnT-L spacer of cpDNA is missing.
Eight species of the ingroup are members of the American Cynanchum subgen. Mellichampia and Metalepis
Griseb., four species are Asian, including two members
of Cynanchum sect. Rhodostegiella (Pobed.) Tsiang and
one member of Metaplexis, one species (C. floribundum) is Australian. From the African mainland,
twenty leafy species were included, constituting more
than half of all known African Cynanchum species
(Liede 1996b). From Madagascar, eighteen leafy species
were included, again almost half of all known leafy
Malagasy species. Of stem succulents, twenty Malagasy
Cynanchum were included, as well as a collection of
C. gerrardii from the African mainland. Eight species
belonging to the small succulent genera Folotsia,
Karimbolea, Platykeleba and Sarcostemma were also included, six of them from Madagascar.
DNA extraction and PCR. DNA was isolated from
fresh or dried leaf tissue according to Doyle & Doyle
(1987). PCR primers and protocol for the chloroplast
DNA (cpDNA) trnT-L and trnL-F spacers and the trnL
intron correspond to Taberlet et al. (1991). cpDNA spacers of 19 species were sequenced for the present study,
the remaining species have been used in previous studies
of the senior author.
The entire internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) including 5.8S of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) was amplified
using the flanking primers ITS4 and ITS5 following a
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
Cynanchum and the Cynanchinae
241
Table 1. Materials used for DNA, anatomical, and triterpenoid studies. Taxa in boldface have been analyzed for stem anatomy, underlined
taxa have been analyzed for latex triterpenoids.
Taxon
Country: Province
Voucher
EMBL
Accession No.
trnT-L spacer
trnL intron
trnL-F spacer
EMBL
Accession No.
ITS
OUTGROUP
Schizostephanus alatus
Hochst. ex K. Schum.
Kenya: s. loc.
Noltee s.n. sub
IPPS 8111 (UBT)
AJ410247
AJ410248
AJ410249
AJ329451
Madagascar: s. loc.
BG Munich s.n. (UBT)
AJ492801
Madagascar: s. loc.
Rauh 68584 (HEID)
AJ290854
AJ290855
AJ290856
–
Madagascar: Toliara
McPherson 14770 (MO)
AJ492802
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2695 (UBT)
– anat.
Liede et al. 2667 (MO, P, UBT)
– latex
AJ428756
AJ428757
AJ428758
–
–
–
AJ428804
AJ428805
AJ428806
AJ492803
INGROUP – Old World Cynanchum relatives
Folotsia grandiflora
(Jum. & H. Perrier) Jum. & H. Perrier
(Cynanchum grandidieri Liede & Meve)
Folotsia madagascariensis
(Jum. & H. Perrier) Desc.
(Cynanchum toliari Liede & Meve)
Madagascar: Toliara
Glossonema boveanum (Decne.) Decne.
Kenya: Northern Frontier Liede & Newton 3239 (ULM)
–
–
Karimbolea macrantha
Madagascar: Toliara
(Jum. & H. Perrier) Liede & Meve
(Cynanchum macranthum Jum. & H. Perrier)
Liede et al. 2808
(in cult. Bayreuth)
AJ492372
AJ492373
AJ492374
AJ492804
Karimbolea mariensis Meve & Liede
(Cynanchum mariense (Meve & Liede)
Liede & Meve)
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2825 (K, MSUN, UBT) AJ428768
AJ428769
AJ428770
AJ492805
Karimbolea verrucosa Desc.
(Cynanchum verrucosum (Desc.)
Liede & Meve)
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2826 (MSUN, UBT)
AJ290878
AJ290879
AJ290880
AJ492806
Metaplexis japonica Makino
Japan: s. loc.
ex BG Tartu (UBT)
AJ428810
AJ428811
AJ428812
AJ492807
Odontanthera radians (Forssk.) D.V. Field North Yemen: Hodeidah Müller-Hohenstein
& Deil 1967 (UBT)
AJ428813
AJ428814
AJ428815
AJ492809
Pentarrhinum abyssinicum Decne.
Bidgood et al. 2440
(K; MWC 8418)
AJ428816
AJ428817
AJ428818
AJ492810
Liede & Newton 3157 (UBT)
AJ428819
AJ428820
AJ428821
AJ492811
Tanzania: Ufipa
Pentarrhinum gonoloboides (Schltr.) Liede Kenya: Naivasha
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
242
Liede & Kunze
Table 1. (Continued).
Taxon
Country: Province
Voucher
EMBL
Accession No.
trnT-L spacer
trnL intron
trnL-F spacer
EMBL
Accession No.
ITS
Pentarrhinum insipidum E. Mey.
South Africa:
Orange Free State
Liede 2940 (UBT)
AJ410232
AJ410233
AJ410234
–
AJ492812
Namibia: Karas Region Meve & Liede 584a (MO)
Pentarrhinum somaliense (Schltr.) Liede
Ethiopia: Sidamo
Mesfin & Vollesen 4238 (UPS)
Kenya: Northern Frontier Liede & Newton 3225 (UBT)
Platykeleba insignis N.E. Br.
(Cynanchum insigne
(N.E. Br.) Liede & Meve)
Madagascar:
Antananarivo
Rauh 68500 (HEID)
Madagascar:
Antananarivo
Lavranos s.n. (UBT)
Sarcostemma arabicum
Bruyns & P. I. Forst.
Yemen: Sana’a
Sarcostemma australe R. Br.
Sarcostemma pearsonii N.E.Br.
AJ428822
AJ428823
AJ428824
AJ492376
AJ492377
AJ492378
–
AJ492813
AJ492814
AJ290906
AJ290907
AJ290908
–
–
Radcliffe-Smith & Henchie
4624 (K, UBT)
–
–
Australia: Queensland
Kunze 205 (Minden)
–
–
South Africa:
Northern Cape
Liede & Meve 582 (K, MSUN)
AJ492816
South Africa:
Northern Cape
South Africa:
Northern Cape
Liede & Hammer
2518 (UBT) – anat.
Liede & Hammer
2520 (UBT) – latex
AJ290909
AJ290910
AJ290211
–
–
–
Sarcostemma resiliens
B. R. Adams & R. W. K. Holland
Zimbabwe: Makoni
Albers et al. 515 (UBT)
–
–
Sarcostemma stolonifera
B. R. Adams & R. W. K. Holland
Tanzania: Arusha
Noltee 199 (MSUN)
–
–
Sarcostemma vanlessenii Lavranos
Kenya: s. loc.
Yemen: Dhamar
Lavranos s.n. (UBT)
Noltee 870 (MSUN)
–
–
–
–
Sarcostemma viminale
(L.) R.Br. ssp. viminale
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al.
2738 (MO, P, UBT) – latex
Liede et al.
2706 (MO, P, UBT) – anat.
Albers et al.
540 (MSUN, UBT)
–
–
–
–
AJ290912
AJ290213
AJ290214
–
AJ492817
–
–
–
–
–
–
ssp. suberosum Meve & Liede
Zimbabwe: Bulawayo
ssp. thunbergii (G. Don) Liede & Meve
South Africa:
Western Cape
South Africa:
Northern Cape
South Africa:
Northern Cape
South Africa:
Western Cape
ssp. nov.
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
Liede & Hammer
2507 (UBT) – latex
Liede & Hammer
2522 (UBT) – latex
Liede & Hammer
2514 (UBT) – anat.
Liede & Hammer
AJ492815
–
–
Cynanchum and the Cynanchinae
243
Table 1. (Continued).
Taxon
Country: Province
Voucher
EMBL
Accession No.
trnT-L spacer
trnL intron
trnL-F spacer
EMBL
Accession No.
ITS
Cynanchum sect. Cynanchum (Old World)
Cynanchum abyssinicum Decne.
Tanzania: Arusha
Liede & Meve 3373 (UBT)
AJ428579
AJ428580
AJ428581
AJ492734
Cynanchum aculeatum
(Desc.) Liede & Meve
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2828
–
–
Cynanchum acutum L.
Portugal: s. loc.
BG Lisboa s.n. (UBT)
AJ428582
AJ428583
AJ428584
AJ492735
Cynanchum adalinae K. Schum.
ssp. adalinae
Cameroon: Sud
(Mt. Cameroon)
Meve 902 (K, LBG)
AJ428585
AJ428586
AJ428587
AJ492736
Cynanchum africanum Hoffsgg.
South Africa:
Western Cape
Liede 2550 (MO)
AJ492737
South Africa:
Western Cape
Meve & Liede 624 (UBT)
AJ428588
AJ428589
AJ428590
–
Cynanchum altiscandens K. Schum.
Kenya: Kiambu
Liede & Newton 2873 (UBT)
AJ428591
AJ428592
AJ428593
AJ492738
Cynanchum ampanihense
Jum. & H. Perrier
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2817a (MSUN)
AJ492739
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2824 (UBT)
AJ428594
AJ428595
AJ428596
–
Cynanchum angavokeliense Choux
Madagascar: s. loc.
Specks s.n.(UBT)
AJ428597
AJ428598
AJ428599
AJ492733
Cynanchum appendiculatopsis Liede
Madagascar: s. loc.
Février s.n. (UBT)
AJ492322
AJ492323
AJ492324
AJ492732
Cynanchum arenarium
Jum. & H. Perrier
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2686
(in cult. Bayreuth)
AJ492740
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2713 (UBT) – anat.
Liede et al. 2739
(MO, P, UBT) – latex
AJ428600
AJ428601
AJ428602
–
–
Cynanchum bisinuatum
Jum. & H. Perrier
Madagascar: Toliara
Hardy 2901 (PRE 14664)
–
–
Cynanchum chouxii Liede & Meve
Madagascar:
Fianarantsoa
Kotozafy 442 (MO, UBT)
AJ492325
AJ492326
AJ492327
–
–
–
–
–
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
244
Liede & Kunze
Table 1. (Continued).
Taxon
Country: Province
EMBL
Accession No.
trnT-L spacer
trnL intron
trnL-F spacer
EMBL
Accession No.
ITS
Cynanchum clavidens N.E.Br.
ssp. hastifolium (N.E.Br.) Liede
Kenya: Northern Frontier Liede & Newton 3226 (UBT)
AJ428609
AJ428610
AJ428611
AJ492743
Cynanchum comorense Choux
Comores: Mayotte
Pignal 1104 (P)
AJ428612
AJ428613
AJ428614
AJ492744
Cynanchum compactum Choux
ssp. compactum
Madagascar: s. loc.
Barad s.n. (UBT)
AJ492745
Madagascar: s. loc.
AJ290842
AJ290843
AJ290844
Lavranos & Newton 12161 (UBT) –
–
Cynanchum crassiantherae Liede
Somalia: Balad
Hedberg & Warfa 90 (UPS)
AJ428615
AJ428616
AJ428617
AJ492746
Cynanchum crassipedicellatum
Meve & Liede
Madagascar: Toliara
Hardy 2852 (K, MSUN)
AJ492328
AJ492329
AJ492330
AJ492747
Cynanchum cucullatum N.E.Br.
Madagascar:
Antananarivo
Liede et al.
2868 (MO, MSUN, P)
AJ428618
AJ428619
AJ428620
AJ492748
Cynanchum danguyanum Choux
Madagascar:
Antsiranana
Allorge 2026 (P)
AJ428621
AJ428622
AJ428623
AJ492749
Cynanchum decaryi Choux
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2691 (UBT)
–
–
Cynanchum descoingsii Rauh
Madagascar: Toliara
Descoings 28244 (UBT)
AJ428624
AJ428625
AJ428626
AJ492750
Cynanchum ellipticum R. Br.
South Africa:
Eastern Cape
Liede 2933 (UBT)
AJ290845
AJ290846
AJ290847
AJ320444
Liede 2916 (UBT)
–
–
South Africa:
Eastern Cape
Voucher
Cynanchum erythranthum
Jum. & H. Perrier
Madagascar:
Antsiranana
Rauh 74816 (HEID)
AJ428627
AJ428628
AJ428629
AJ492751
Cynanchum falcatum
Hutchinson & E.A. Bruce
Ethiopia: Ogaden
Kuchar & Abdirizak 21226 (UPS)
AJ492753
Ethiopia: Sidamo
Friis 3169 (K; MWC 8410)
AJ492331
AJ492332
AJ492333
AJ428630
AJ428631
AJ428632
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
AJ492752
Cynanchum and the Cynanchinae
245
Table 1. (Continued).
Taxon
Country: Province
Voucher
EMBL
Accession No.
trnT-L spacer
trnL intron
trnL-F spacer
EMBL
Accession No.
ITS
Cynanchum floribundum R.Br.
Australia:
Northern Territory
Latz 12579 (MO)
AJ428633
AJ428634
AJ428635
AJ492754
Cynanchum folotsioides Liede & Meve
Madagascar: Toliara
Rauh 21847 (MSUN)
AJ492334
AJ492335
AJ492336
AJ492755
Cynanchum galgalense Liede
Somalia: Bari
Thulin & Warfa 6205 (K, UPS)
AJ492756
Somalia: Bari
Thulin et al. 9433 (UPS)
AJ492337
AJ492338
AJ492339
AJ492341
AJ492342
AJ492343
Cynanchum gerrardii (Harvey) Liede
Cynanchum hardyi Liede & Meve
Yemen: Al Hudaydah
Noltee 995 (MSUN) – latex
Kenya: Northern Frontier Meve 962 (ULM)
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2797 (MSUN)
Madagascar: s. loc.
Rauh s.n. (HEID, UBT)
Madagascar:
Mahajanga
Mangelsdorff RMM 43 (UBT)
Madagascar: Toliara
Hardy & Jacobsen 3571 (PRE)
–
AJ428645
AJ428646
AJ428647
AJ428642
AJ428643
AJ428644
–
AJ492343
AJ492344
AJ492345
–
–
–
AJ492757
AJ492758
–
AJ492759
–
Cynanchum implicatum Jum. & H. Perrier Madagascar:
Antsiranana
Mangelsdorff 24 (UBT)
AJ428648
AJ428649
AJ428650
AJ492760
Cynanchum itremense Liede
Madagascar:
Fianarantsoa
Phillipson et al. 3857 (MO)
AJ492346
AJ492347
AJ492348
AJ492761
Cynanchum juliani-marnieri Desc.
Madagascar: Toliara
Teissier s.n. (UBT)
AJ492349
AJ492350
AJ492351
AJ492762
Cynanchum junciforme (Decne.) Liede
Madagascar:
Fianarantsoa
Liede et al. 2864 (MO, P, UBT)
–
–
Cynanchum leucanthum
(K. Schum.) K. Schum.
ssp. leucanthum
Madagascar:
Antsiranana
Mangelsdorff 420 (UBT)
AJ428654
AJ428655
AJ428656
AJ492764
Cynanchum lineare N.E.Br. ssp. lineare
Madagascar:
Fianarantsoa
Röösli & Hoffmann 198 (UBT)
AJ428660
AJ428661
AJ428662
AJ492765
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
246
Liede & Kunze
Table 1. (Continued).
Taxon
Country: Province
Voucher
EMBL
Accession No.
trnT-L spacer
trnL intron
trnL-F spacer
EMBL
Accession No.
ITS
Cynanchum luteifluens
(Jum. & H. Perrier)
Desc. var. luteifluens
Madagascar: Toliara
–
–
–
–
var. longicoronae Liede
Madagascar:
Fianarantsoa
Liede et al. 2699
(MO, P, UBT) – anat.
Liede et al. 2731
(MO, P, UBT) – latex
Liede et al. 2624
(MO, P, UBT)
–
–
Cynanchum longipes N.E.Br.
Ghana:
Brong-Ahafo Region
Jongkind & Schmidt
1739 (MO)
AJ428663
AJ428664
AJ428665
AJ492766
Cynanchum madagascariense K. Schum. Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2756 (UBT)
AJ428666
AJ428667
AJ428668
AJ492767
Cynanchum mahafalense
Jum. & H. Perrier
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2831 (UBT)
AJ492768
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2649 (UBT)
AJ428669
AJ428670
AJ428671
–
Cynanchum marnieranum Rauh
Madagascar: Toliara
Rauh s.n. (MSUN)
AJ492352
AJ492353
AJ492354
AJ492769
Cynanchum menarandrense
Jum. & H. Perrier
Madascar: Toliara
Rauh 7593 (HEID, UBT)
–
–
Cynanchum messeri
(Buchenau) Jum. & H. Perrier
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2721 (MO, P, UBT)
AJ428672
AJ428273
AJ428274
AJ492770
Cynanchum mevei Liede
Madagascar: Toliara
Teissier 215 (UBT)
AJ428675
AJ428676
AJ428677
–
AJ492771
AJ428678
AJ428679
AJ428680
AJ492772
AJ492355
AJ492356
AJ492357
AJ492774
AJ428687
AJ428688
AJ428689
–
AJ492775
AJ428801
AJ428802
AJ428803
–
AJ492776
Liede et al. 2780 (MO, P, MSUN)
Cynanchum meyeri Schltr.
Namibia
Cynanchum moramangense Choux
Madagascar: Toamasina Rakotomalaza et al. 1202 (MO)
Cynanchum natalitium Schltr.
South Africa: s. loc.
Nicholas 2583 (NH)
South Africa: s. loc.
Kunze 316 (Minden)
Madagascar:
Antsiranana
Mangelsdorff M14 (UBT)
Madagascar:
Fianarantsoa
Liede et al. 2859
(MO, P, UBT)
Cynanchum obovatum Choux
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
Van Wyk 9030 (PRE)
–
–
–
–
Cynanchum and the Cynanchinae
247
Table 1. (Continued).
Taxon
Country: Province
Voucher
EMBL
Accession No.
trnT-L spacer
trnL intron
trnL-F spacer
EMBL
Accession No.
ITS
Cynanchum obtusifolium L.f.
South Africa:
Eastern Cape
Liede 2925 (UBT)
AJ492777
South Africa: s. loc.
Kunze 303 (Minden)
AJ428690
AJ428691
AJ428692
–
Botswana: Kgalagadi
Cole 347 (PRE)
South Africa:
Northern Cape
Van Rooyen 4537 (PRE)
Cynanchum orangeanum N.E.Br.
–
AJ492358
AJ492359
AJ492360
AJ428693
AJ428694
AJ428695
AJ492778
AJ428696
AJ428697
AJ428698
AJ492780
AJ428699
AJ428700
AJ428701
–
AJ492781
AJ428702
AJ428703
AJ428704
–
AJ492782
AJ492779
Cynanchum ovalifolium Wight
Philippines: Zamboanga Liede 3297 (ULM)
Cynanchum pachycladon Choux
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2741 (MO, P, UBT)
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2663 (MO, P, UBT)
Madagascar:
Fianarantsoa
Liede et al. 2862 (MSUN, UBT)
Madagascar:
Fianarantsoa
Liede et al. 2622 (MO, TAN)
Madagascar: s. loc.
BG Berlin 027-03-74-80 (B)
AJ428705
AJ428706
AJ428707
AJ492783
Madagascar:
Fianarantsoa
Liede et al. 2851 (UBT)
–
–
Cynanchum papillatum Choux
Cynanchum perrieri Choux
–
–
Cynanchum phillipsonianum
Liede & Meve
Madagascar:
Antsiranana
Mangelsdorff M 25 (UBT)
AJ428708
AJ428709
AJ428710
AJ492784
Cynanchum polyanthum K. Schum.
Uganda: Buganda
Synnott 688 (K; MWC 8413)
AJ428711
AJ428712
AJ428713
AJ492785
Cynanchum praecox Schltr. ex S. Moore
Tanzania: Ufipa
Goyder et al. 3828 (PRE)
AJ428714
AJ428715
AJ428716
AJ492786
Cynanchum pycnoneuroides Choux
Madagascar:
Fianarantsoa
Service Forestier 26466 (P)
AJ492787
Madagascar:
Fianarantsoa
Rauh 10605 (HEID)
AJ428717
AJ428718
AJ428719
–
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2744 (UBT)
AJ492361
AJ492362
AJ492363
AJ492788
Cynanchum radiatum Jum. & H. Perrier
–
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
248
Liede & Kunze
Table 1. (Continued).
Taxon
Country: Province
Voucher
EMBL
Accession No.
trnT-L spacer
trnL intron
trnL-F spacer
EMBL
Accession No.
ITS
Cynanchum rauhianum Desc.
Madagascar: Toliara
Röösli s.n. sub Noltee 2662
(in cult. Bayreuth)
AJ492789
Madagascar: Toliara
Liede et al. 2630 (P, UBT)
AJ428723
AJ428724
AJ428725
–
Cynanchum repandum Choux
Madagascar:
Antananarivo
Liede et al. 2867 (MO, P, UBT)
AJ428726
AJ428727
AJ428728
AJ492791
Cynanchum rossii Rauh
Madagascar: Toliara
Singer 072478 (ZSS)
AJ428729
AJ428730
AJ428731
AJ492792
Cynanchum rubricoronae Liede
Somalia: Hiiraan
Kuchar 16793 (K, MWC 8414)
AJ428735
AJ428736
AJ428737
AJ492794
Cynanchum rungweense Bullock
Tanzania: Mbeya
Mwasumbi 16518
(MO, K, MWC 8415)
AJ428738
AJ428739
AJ428740
AJ492795
Cynanchum schistoglossum Schltr.
Burundi: Bujumbura
Lewalle 5435 (MO)
–
AJ492364
AJ492365
AJ492796
Cynanchum sessiliflorum
(Decne.) Liede
Madagascar:
Antsiranana
Mangelsdorff M13 (UBT)
AJ428741
AJ428742
AJ428743
AJ492797
Cynanchum sigridiae Meve & Teissier
Madagascar: Toliara
Teissier 135 (K, MSUN)
AJ492366
AJ492367
AJ492368
AJ492798
–
Cynanchum sect. Rhodostegiella (Old World)
Cynanchum auriculatum
Buch.-Ham. ex Wight
China
ex hort. Nanking s.n. (UBT)
AJ410196
AJ410197
AJ419198
AJ492741
Cynanchum thesioides K. Schum.
China
Qingru 97-81 (MO)
AJ492799
China: Gansu
Wang et al. 93–414 (MO)
AJ492369
AJ492370
AJ492371
AJ428747
AJ428748
AJ428749
AJ492800
Cynanchum subgen. Mellichampia (New World)
Cynanchum blandum (Decne.) Sundell
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
Ecuador: Napo
Burnham 1668 (MO)
AJ428403
AJ428604
AJ428605
AJ492742
Cynanchum and the Cynanchinae
249
Table 1. (Continued).
Taxon
Country: Province
Voucher
EMBL
Accession No.
trnT-L spacer
trnL intron
trnL-F spacer
EMBL
Accession No.
ITS
Cynanchum foetidum Kunth
Mexico: Oaxaca
Campos 3956 (MO)
AJ428636
AJ428637
AJ428638
–
AJ492818
Liede s.n. (UBT)
AJ428651
AJ428652
AJ428653
AJ492763
Cynanchum ligulatum (Benth.) Woodson Mexico: Sonora
Martin & McWorther s.n. (MO)
AJ428657
AJ428658
AJ428659
–
Cynanchum montevidense Spreng.
Argentina: Salta
Liede & Conrad 3100 (ULM)
AJ290848
AJ290849
AJ290850
AJ492773
Cynanchum cf. racemosum Jacq.
Mexico: Tamaulipas
Liede & Conrad 2609 (ULM)
AJ428720
AJ428721
AJ428722
AJ492790
Cynanchum roulinioides
(E. Fourn.) Rapini
(C. contrapetalum Sundell)
Bolivia: Chuquisaca
Wood et al. 13300 (K, UBT)
AJ428732
AJ428733
AJ428734
AJ492793
Metalepis albiflora Urban
Ecuador: Napo
Burnham 1611 (MO)
AJ492808
Ecuador: Napo
Gentry et al. 64103 (MO)
AJ428774
AJ428775
AJ428776
–
Kunze 624 (Minden)
Cynanchum laeve (Michx.) Pers.
USA: Missouri
branch swapping (“MulTrees” on) to the limit of computer capacity (between 30,000 and 40,000 trees). Internal support was assessed using 1000 bootstrap replicates
with random addition of taxa (10 addition sequence
replicates), with a limit of 10 trees kept at each step.
Decay analyses were performed with AutoDecay 4.0
(Eriksson 1998) in combination with the reverse constraint option of PAUP*.
A partition homogeneity test (as implemented in
PAUP, 1000 replicates) showed significant discordance
between the cpDNA dataset and the rDNA dataset (p =
0.01), but if the partial cpDNA datasets were tested
singly, no discordance was found (trnT-L spacer: p =
0.1, trnL intron: p = 0.99, trnL-F spacer: p = 0.59). With
this result, the argument of Soltis et al. (2000) – that
tests of incongruence are often too coarse and that the
best way to detect true incongruence is to examine the
internal support of nodes in separate and combined
–
–
analysis – was followed, and a combination of the two
datasets was analyzed. In addition, a Neighbor-Joining
analysis of all sequence data (Saitou & Nei 1987) was
conducted as well, employing Jukes-Cantor (Jukes &
Cantor 1969) and Kimura 2-parameter (Kimura 1980)
distance models.
Finally, data from the morphological analysis of
African Cynanchum (Liede 1997a) and the two molecular datasets were combined and analyzed, even though a
partition homogeneity test showed highly significant
discordance (p = 0.01) between the morphological data
and both molecular datasets. Taxa for which either no
molecular data or no detailed morphological data were
available were omitted, as were double accessions of the
same species, leaving 63 ingroup taxa. Liede (1997b) regarded Tylophora as a primitive Asclepiadeae genus and
thus a suitable outgroup. Since then it has been established that Tylophora belongs to a different subtribe (TyOrg. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
250
Liede & Kunze
lophorinae) in the Asclepiadeae (Liede 2001), and that
ITS sequences of Tylophora and Cynanchum cannot be
aligned unambiguously (Liede et al. in press). Therefore,
Schizostephanus alatus was coded for morphological
characters following Liede (1993b, as Cynanchum
validum). To the morphological dataset of 87 characters
(multistate characters treated as polymorphisms), the
parsimony informative sequence characters of two
molecular datasets (145 for ITS and 114 for cpDNA)
were added. In addition to a parsimony analysis of the
three combined datasets, an analysis of the molecular
data alone was performed with the reduced number of
taxa, and morphological characters were plotted on the
resulting tree using MacClade 4.0 (Maddison & Maddison 2000).
Stem anatomy
Twenty-seven leafless, stem-succulent members of Cynanchum and related genera, three leafy Malagasy Cynanchum species, and a total of six non-succulent
African, Asian and American species of Cynanchum s. l.
were studied anatomically (Table 1). In addition, two
American Funastrum E. Fourn. species, F. clausum
Schltr. and F. pannosum Schltr., were studied. For the
stem-succulent taxa, mature but not basal internodes
were selected. Material was fixed in FAA, dehydrated
via tertiary butanol, and embedded in paraffine. Sections
were stained for 5 minutes each in 0.1% aqueous safranine and 0.5% Astra blue (Gerlach 1969). Sections were
washed, deparaffinated with Roticlear® (Roth Chemicals), and coverslipped with Entellan®. The data were
tabulated and plotted onto the tree resulting from analysis of the combined molecular data using MacClade 4.0
(Maddison & Maddison 2000) for the taxa for which
both datasets were available.
Latex triterpene analysis
Latex samples collected in the field were dried overnight
in low heat on top of the plant dryer. Latex samples from
cultivated plants were dried overnight at 60 ºC. All samples were analyzed for their acetone-extracted profile by
Paul G. Mahlberg at Indiana University. The latex samples were redissolved in acetone and the supernatant analyzed for triterpenoid components by gas-liquid chromatography (Mahlberg et al. 1988). Analyses were performed on a Hewlett-Packard 5710 chromatograph
equipped with a flame ionization detector and the oven
programmed from 240–290 ºC at 4 ºC/min. Nitrogen
was the carrier gas, 20 ml/min. Injection port and detector temperatures were 250 and 350 ºC, respectively.
Columns contained 3% OV-1 on 100/120 mesh Supelcoport. Individual compounds were quantified on a
Hewlett Packard 3380.
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
Results
DNA sequence analysis
Sequence characteristics for both datasets are summarized in Table 2.
Sequence divergences are higher in ITS1 with
0.0–19.4% than in ITS2 with 0.0–11.9%. In both cases,
divergence between Glossonema boveanum and an
American Cynanchum species (Metalepis albiflorum for
ITS1, C. blandum for ITS2) is larger than between any
ingroup taxon and the outgroup. For ITS1, the largest
divergences are found between C. galgalense and Metalepis albiflora. For the cpDNA, the trnL intron has the
lowest sequence divergence with 0.0–4.2% between ingroup taxa, and the trnL-T and trnL-F spacers are almost
equally variable with 0.0–7.8 and 0.0–8.4%, respectively. Again, highest sequence divergence is not between
any ingroup taxon and the outgroup, but between a New
World and an Old World species: C. foetidum and
C. acutum (trnT-L spacer), Metalepis albiflorum and
Metaplexis japonica (trnL-F spacer), M. albiflorum and
Glossonema boveanum (trnL intron). Pairs of the same
species are identical in all regions studied in C. gerrardii
and C. thesioides. Between the remaining species pairs,
divergences of up to 1.2% occur in one or several
regions.
Analysis of the cpDNA dataset without C. schistoglossum (268 parsimony informative characters) resulted in more than 40,000 trees (l = 484 steps, CI = 0.677,
RI = 0.84, RC = 0.562; strict consensus see Fig. 1).
Adding the separately coded indels (312 parsimony informative characters) resulted in more than 44,000 most
parsimonious trees (l = 575 steps, CI = 0.649, RI = 0.828,
RC = 0.537; strict consensus see Fig. 1).
Analysis of the rDNA dataset without C. ligulatum,
C. chouxii and the second accession of C. galgalense
(200 parsimony informative characters) resulted in more
than 44,000 most parsimonious trees (l = 605 steps,
CI = 0.514, RI = 0.774, RC = 0.40; strict consensus see
Fig. 2) and retrieved largely the same main clades as the
cpDNA dataset. However, the Malagasy clade is much
better resolved, both for the leafy and the leafless taxa.
The leafless taxa together with the stem-succulent but
leafy C. pycnoneuroides form a reasonably well supported subclade of the Malagasy clade also including the
leafless succulent taxa shared with mainland Africa
(Sarcostemma and C. gerrardii).
Analysis of the combined cpDNA–rDNA dataset did
not change the well-supported clades of the single analyses. The combined analysis (505 parsimony informative
characters) resulted in 2268 most parsimonious trees
(l = 1175 steps, CI = 0.568, RI = 0.785, RC = 0.446;
strict consensus tree see Fig. 3). Bootstrap values
increased for all clades retrieved in the single analyses,
Cynanchum and the Cynanchinae
251
Table 2. Sequence characteristics.
trnT-L spacer
Aligned total length (bp) 1179a
trnL intron
trnL-F spacer
ITS1
ITS2
5.8s
578
421
337
299
162
Length range (bp)
685 (C. acutum)
–
867
(Metalepis albiflora)
393 (C. longipes)
–
533
(C. montevidense)
265 (C. longipes)
–371
(Schizostephanus
alatus)
207 (Pentarrhinum
gonoloboides)
–262 (Odontanthera radians)
221
159–162
(C. rubricoronae)
-–259
(C. blandum)
Length mean (bp)
Number of parsimony
informative indelsa
787.79
28
(indels coded 32)
502.84
9
361.35
7
232.63
–
244.04
–
159.76
–
Sequence divergence
(ingroup/outgroup) (%)
1.0–5.6
0.4–3.0
0.0–5.0
7.6–14.7
3.7–10.5
0.0–0.2
Sequence divergence
(ingroup) (%) b
0.0–7.8
0.0–4.3
0.0–8.4
0.0–19.4
0.0–11.9
0.0–0.2
Sequence divergence
(pairs of same species)
(%)
0.0–1.2
0.0–0.4
0.0–0.5
0.0–1.0
0.0–1.2
0.0
a
b
52 characters permanently excluded because of ambiguous alignment
not taking into account different accessions of the same species
indicating higher congruency of the two datasets than
the partition homogeneity test. The Madagascar clade is
supported by 100% bootstrap value, and the succulent
clade, including the succulent but linear-leafed C. pycnoneuroides, by 79% bootstrap support. Interestingly, the
likewise stem-succulent but large-leaved C. pachycladon is now basal to the succulent clade s. str., though
only with 68% bootstrap support. Clades retrieved in the
rDNA dataset but not in the cpDNA dataset were largely
preserved in the combined analysis, but equally unsupported; nevertheless, some basal resolution is apparent.
The results of the two separate Neighbor-Joining
analyses based on Jukes-Cantor and Kimura 2-parameter distance models produced trees almost identical in
topology (Fig. 4), the only difference concerning the
C. floribundum-C. falcatum branch, which is unresolved
in the Kimura-2-parameter analysis but neighbor to the
Pentarrhinum/Mellichampia/C. acutum branch following the Jukes-Cantor model. The Neighbor-Joining tree
is highly congruent with the parsimony-based strict consensus phylogeny (Fig. 3). It illustrates clearly the structure of Cynanchum with short distances between the
groups and long distances between the taxa in a group in
African, American and Asian taxa. The Malagasy taxa
are separated by a comparatively long distance, but distances are very short within the Malagasy group, and
even shorter within the group of succulent species.
The two American sections – the North and Central
American C. foetidum, C. laeve and C. racemosum (sect.
Mellichampia) and the South American C. blandum,
C. montevidense and C. roulinioides (sect. Roulinia) –
together with Metalepis albiflorum form reasonably to
well-supported clades in all analyses (Figs 1–3). The
Central American C. ligulatum, for which no ITS sequence was available, falls into its expected place with
C. foetidum and C. racemosum in the cpDNA analysis
(Fig. 1). These two subclades form a well supported
clade in the cpDNA and combined analyses (Figs 1, 3),
whereas they are unresolved with subclades of the Pentarrhinum-clade (Liede et al. 2002) in the analysis
resulting from ITS data. In the combined analysis, the
Afro-Arabian Pentarrhinum-clade is sister to the American clade (Fig. 3).
Most Asian taxa form a very well supported clade, including Metaplexis japonica (Figs 1–3). Cynanchum
ovalifolium, a widespread coastal Australasian species,
joins this clade with low support in the ITS and the combined datasets (Figs 2, 3); the Neighbor-Joining analysis
(Fig. 4) shows very long branches both for the core
Asian taxa and for C. ovalifolium. The only available
Australian species, C. floribundum, is even more weakly
joint to the Asian clade in the ITS and combined analyses
(Figs 2, 3), but in the Neighbor-Joining analysis C. floribundum is next to the African C. falcatum.
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
252
Liede & Kunze
African Cynanchum fall into three main groups. Stable and well supported by both datasets is the C. clavidens-clade, comprising the widespread C. clavidens, the
two Somalian twiners C. crassiantherae and C. rubricoronae, as well as the geophytic C. orangeanum and
C. praecox. In the combined analysis (Fig. 3), this clade
is basal in Cynanchum.
The South African C. africanum, C. ellipticum,
C. meyeri and C. natalitium, and the East African C. altiscandens form a weakly supported clade for both
datasets (Figs 1–3), but only the ITS dataset joins the
South African C. obtusifolium without support (Fig. 2),
and the East African endemic C. rungweense is added
only in the combined analysis (Fig. 3). A tie to
C. polyanthum is suggested by the Neighbor-Joining
analysis (Fig. 4), but not by parsimony analysis. The association of C. polyanthum with the Australian C. floribundum in the cpDNA dataset without indels is most
likely an artefact caused by long-branch attraction.
The positions of the remaining species have less support. The Somalian C. galgalense shows no affinity to
any clade in any dataset, even though a second specimen
has been analyzed for cpDNA to ascertain the results obtained from the first specimen. The combined analysis
(Fig. 3) suggests a clade of the remaining African
Cynanchum species, but only the subclade of the West
African C. adalinae and C. longipes is reasonably well
supported. Very well supported by ITS data is the morphologically unsuspected sister species relationship between C. falcatum and C. schistoglossum (for which
cpDNA data are incomplete). The members of this
African clade – to which the type species of Cynanchum,
the circum-Mediterranean C. acutum, belongs – all show
very long branches (Fig. 4).
Analysis of the combined morphological/molecular
dataset (343 parsimony informative characters) results
in 1232 most parsimonious trees (l = 1488 steps,
CI = 0.337, RI = 0.587, RC = 0.198; strict consensus see
Fig. 5). Homoplasy measures for the combined trees are
considerably worse than for any of the molecular trees
alone, but better than those found by Liede (1997a) for
pure morphological trees. Support is improved by morphological characters only for the Folotsia-clade, sup-
port for the other clades is either the same or worse than
for the molecular data alone. In the molecularly unresolved stem-succulent C. arenarium-clade, morphological data strongly support respective sister group relationships between C. arenarium and C. hardyi, and C. crassipedicellatum and C. descoingsii.
Plotting of the morphological characters defined in
Liede (1993b) on the strict consensus tree resulting from
analysis of the combined molecular datasets shows that
almost all characters used are homoplasious. Only thickwalled, ornamented fruits are restricted to Pentarrhinum
(and Glossonema/Odontanthera, see Liede et al. 2002),
which forms a subclade of Cynanchum. Stem succulence (Fig. 6A) is almost restricted to the “stem-succulent” clade, which includes the linear-leafed C. pycnoneuroides. The large-leafed but succulent C. pachycladon is basal to this clade, though with low support.
Outside this clade, weak stem succulence occurs only in
C. phillipsonianum. Other characters, even conspicuous
ones such as trichomes on the corolla, ligulate or constricted coronas, papillose connective appendages, etc.,
are found in several clades. Corona characters in particular are highly homoplasious, e.g. the degree of fusion of
the gynostegial corona (Fig. 6B). Except for the Malagasy C. erythranthum-clade, all clades have members
with coronas fused to various degrees. In the stem-succulent clade, possession of warts and striation of the
stems can be used as a rough indicator for relationship in
the leafless taxa (Fig. 7). All members of the C. arenarium polytomy (except for C. rauhianum) have warty
stems, but the latter also occur in C. marnieranum
(Fig. 7A). The wartiness of C. pachycladon is a feature
of its corky bark and probably not homologous to the
wartiness of the green stems of the remaining taxa. Striation is characteristic of the most derived subclade of the
stem-succulent clade, but C. compactum and C. marnieranum are exceptions (Fig. 7B).
Stem anatomy
A total of 16 characters was studied (Table 3). All
species follow the general pattern of Apocynaceae
s.l., in which the pith is surrounded by an amphi-
Fig. 1. Analysis of the cpDNA dataset without C. schistoglossum. Strict consensus of 44,000 most parsimonious trees resulting from analysis
without indels (268 parsimony informative characters, l = 484 steps, CI = 0.677, RI = 0.84, RC = 0.562), and of more than 40,000 trees resulting from analysis with indels (312 parsimony informative characters, l = 575 steps, CI = 0.649, RI = 0.828, RC = 0.537). Clades only retrieved in the analysis without indels are represented by dashed lines, those retrieved only in the analysis with indels by dotted lines. Bootstrap
percentages and decay indices are given for analysis without indels above branches, with indels below branches. The only conflicting arrangement of taxa, C. obovatum and C. repandum, is indicated at the right margin. Asterisks indicate African taxa in the Malagasy clade.
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
Fig. 2. Strict consensus of 44,000 most parsimonious trees resulting
from analysis of the rDNA dataset (200 parsimony informative characters, l = 605 steps, CI = 0.514, RI = 0.774, RC = 0.40). For branch
labelling, see Fig. 1.
Fig. 3. Strict consensus of the 2268 most parsimonious
trees resulting from analysis of all sequence data and cpDNA
indels (505 parsimony informative characters, l = 1175
steps, CI = 0.568, RI = 0.785, RC = 0.446). For branch labelling, see Fig. 1.
Fig. 4. Neighbor-Joining Tree resulting from analysis of all sequence data. Distance model: Kimura-2-parameter
Fig. 5. Strict consensus of the 1232 most parsimonious
trees resulting from analysis of the combined morphological/molecular dataset (343 parsimony informative characters; l = 1488 steps, CI = 0.337, RI = 0.587, RC = 0.198).
For branch labelling, see Fig. 1.
Fig. 6. Examples of distribution of morphological characters identified by Liede (1993b) on the molecular phylogeny. A. Shoots woody, herbaceous or succulent. B. Degree of corona fusion.
Fig. 7. Examples of distribution of morphological characters identified by Liede (1993b) on the molecular phylogeny. A. Stems warty or
smooth. B. Stems striate or uniform.
260
Xylem
Endodermis
Species
Number
stone cells
loose ring
nests: no nests (0); nests in one row (1);
nests in 2–3 rows (2)
reduced
different cell sizes
parenchyma undifferentiated (0);
with sclerenchyma (1)
palisade parenchyma
number of layers
(0: abssnt; 1: 1–2; 2:more than two)
papillose
number of layers
(0: monolayered; 1: several layers)
0: normal position; 1: slightly sunken;
2: much sunken
Stomata
reduced ring
Enpidermis
single groups
Hypodermis
more than 10 cells
Cortex
5–10 cells
Sclerenchyma
undifferentiated parenchyma (0); single lignified cells
(1) lignified cells and sclerenchyma (2)
Pith
Funastrum clausum
2599
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
Funastrum pannosum
2600a
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
Metalepis albiflora
Gentry 64103
–
0
1
0
0
1
0
2
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
–
Cynanchum foetidum
HK 624
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
Cynanchum ovalifolium
3279
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
–
Pentarrhinum insipidum
PVB s.n.
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
Cynanchum natalitium
HK 316
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
Cynanchum obtusifolium
HK 303
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
Cynanchum decaryi
2691
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
Cynanchum pachycladon
2663
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
1
–
1
–
Cynanchum pycnoneuroides
10605
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
Cynanchum aculeatum
2828
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
2
Cynanchum ampanihense
2824
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
1
Liede & Kunze
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
Table 3. Stem anatomy.
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
Cynanchum bisinuatum
2901
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
2
Cynanchum compactum
12161
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
2
Cynanchum descoingsii
68638
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
Cynanchum gerrardii
Rauh s.n.
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
Cynanchum hardyi
3571
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
01
0
0
1
1
0
2
Cynanchum juliani-marnieri
Teissier s.n.
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
2
Cynanchum luteifluens
var. luteifluens
2699
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
Cynanchum luteifluens
var. longicoronae
2624
1
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
2
Cynanchum mahafalense
2649
2
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
2
1
0
2
Cynanchum marnieranum
Rauh s.n.
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
Cynanchum menarandrense
7593
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Cynanchum messeri
2721
2
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
2
Cynanchum mevei
2780
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
2
Cynanchum rauhianum
2630
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
2
Folotsia grandiflora
68584
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
01
0
0
1
1
0
2
Folotsia madagascariensis
2695
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
01
0
0
2
Karimbolea verrucosa
2826
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
Platykeleba insignis
Lavranos s.n.
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
01
1
0
2
Sarcostemma arabicum
R. & H. 4624
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
2
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
Sarcostemma australe
HK 205
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
Sarcostemma pearsonii
2518
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
Sarcostemma viminale
ssp. viminale
2706
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
Sarcostemma viminale
ssp. thunbergii
2514
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
2
Sarcostemma viminale
ssp. nov.
2552
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
261
2713
Cynanchum and the Cynanchinae
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
Cynanchum arenarium
262
Peak No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
14.0
14.5
14.8
15.3
15.5
15.7
16.3
17.2
18.0
19.3
20.4
21.9
16
29
26
19
29
52
6
2
7
1
1
9
t
13
24
19
38
10
87
62
68
37
84
12
9
2
2
3
7
6
2
1
2
2
1
6
20
20
14
17
14
20
17
17
21
73
58
59
74
79
73
77
81
54
2
5
12
7
5
3
2
1
9
4
4
3
4
1
4
3
6
3
1
4
18
21
22
17
24
19
18
15
16
23
73
76
54
79
63
73
62
56
68
63
2
2
16
3
5
2
5
25
15
3
2507
3
5
20
61
3
2522
5
5
30
59
3
2552
Thailand s.n.
Singh s.n.
3
2
4
3
3
4
24
18
18
68
75
72
2
2
2
Retention time (min)
8.8
11.7 12.0 13.6
Species
Pentarrhinum insipidum
Cynanchum africanum
Number
584a
624
Cynanchum cucullatum
Cynanchum junciforme
Cynanchum obovatum
Cynanchum pachycladon
Cynanchum papillatum
2868
2864
2859
2863
2862
Cynanchum aculeatum
Cynanchum arenarium
Cynanchum crassipedicellatum
Cynanchum gerrardii
2828
2739
2852
995
Rauh s.n.
2731
2835
Rauh s.n.
2851
Cynanchum luteifluens
var. luteifluens
Cynanchum marnieranum
Cynanchum perrieri
Folotsia grandiflora
Folotsia madagascariensis
Karimbolea verrucosa
Platykeleba insignis
Sarcostemma pearsonii
Sarcostemma resiliens
Sarcostemma stolonifera
Sarcostemma vanlessenii
Sarcostemma viminale
ssp. viminale
Sarcostemma viminale
ssp. thunbergii
Sarcostemma viminale
ssp. thunbergii
Sarcostemma viminale ssp. nov.
Sarcostemma viminale
Sarcostemma viminale
68584
2667
2826
Lavranos s.n.
2520
515
199
Lavranos s.n.
870
2738
t
t
4
t
1
13
1
t
1
t
1
1
t
2
1
1
6
7
1
1
1
1
t
t
3
t
t
t
t
t
6
1
1
1
3
t
4
2
2
1
t
t
1
4
1
t
1
Liede & Kunze
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
Table 4. Percentage composition of latex triterpenoids.
Cynanchum and the Cynanchinae
phloematic xylem. Adjacent to the outer phloem is a
zone of sclerenchymatic fibres arranged either in a
closed ring or in separate bundles with intermittent
parenchyma. The cortex is formed by parenchymatic
tissue. Usually, but not always, present are a hypodermis below the epidermis consisting of smaller cells of
regular size, as well as a starch sheath on the inside of
the cortex. Differences between species involve
mainly specialized cells occurring in the pith or the
cortex.
263
The American Funastrum species differ from all other
analyzed species by a division of the outer cortex into an
inner part of more or less isodiametric parenchyma cells
and surrounding, radially elongated palisade cells
(Fig. 9B). Special cells such as brachysclereids or single
fibres are absent in Funastrum, but present in Sarcostemma; stomata are level with the surface in Funastrum, but sunken in Sarcostemma.
Plotting of the characters on the cladogram derived
from DNA characters shows that of the characters used
Fig. 8. Stem anatomy. A. Cross section
of a stem succulent Cynanchum
(C. rauhianum) representing the basic
pattern of stem anatomy. B. C. messeri,
specialized pith with parenchyma interspersed with sclerenchyma fibres and
lignified cells. C. Sarcostemma viminale
ssp. nov. (SL 2552), cross section showing nests of stone cells between outer
phloem and sclerenchyma of inner cortex. D. Sarcostemma pearsonii, outer
cortex with stone cells, papillose epidermis and sunken stomata. H: hypodermis, iP: inner phloem, L: lignified
cells, oP: outer phloem, S: sclerenchyma, St: stone cells, X: xylem.
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
264
Liede & Kunze
the anatomical ones are no better indicators of relationship than are the morphological ones in succulent Cynanchum. Only a papillose epidermis coincides roughly
with the main clades of succulent Cynanchum, but C.
marnieranum with a smooth epidermis is found in the
otherwise papillose clade, and C. hardyi with a papillose
epidermis in the otherwise smooth clade. The two Folotsia species also differ in this character (Table 3). Only
the C. mahafalense/C. messeri clade, which is morphologically otherwise well supported, is uniquely characterized by both lignified cells and sclerenchyma in the
pith.
Triterpene analysis
Liede et al. (1993) used latex triterpenoid patterns to
show that Karimbolea constitutes a true member of
Asclepiadeae despite the erect pollinia of K. verrucosa,
the only Karimbolea species known at the time of that
analysis. In the course of that analysis (Liede et al. 1993),
the very different triterpenoid composition of Funastrum and Old World Sarcostemma (Fig. 10A, E) – then
both included in Sarcostemma sensu Holm (1950) –
together with the striking uniformity of the stem-succulent
Malagasy species with Sarcostemma s. str. (Fig. 10C, E) –
then belonging to five different genera – led to a discontinuation of the study. Almost all stem succulents show
the same general triterpenoid pattern with four major
peaks, the largest one at a retention time of 18 min
(Fig. 10C). A small fifth peak at 15.3 min is usually but
not always present (Table 4). Exceptions are C. arena-
rium and C. perrieri, which both show three peaks of
approx. the same size at 14.8 min, 15.5 min and 16.3 min
(Fig. 10F). Cynanchum crassipedicellatum with an exceptionally large peak at 15.3 min and 19.3 min, Folotsia madagascariensis with two late peaks, and Karimbolea verrucosa with an exceptionally large peak at
19.3 min also differ slightly. All Sarcostemma species –
from Madagascar, mainland Africa or even India and
Thailand – are remarkably uniform, except for S. vanlessenii for which the peak at 15.5 min is absent and the
one at 19.3 min exceptionally large. Of the five leafy
Malagasy species studied, C. pachycladon (Fig. 10D)
shows the same peaks, but at different ratios, whereas
C. papillatum (Fig. 10C) displays a different pattern
(Table 4). The two African species, C. africanum and
Pentarrhinum insipidum (Fig. 10B), show triterpenoid
patterns different from each other and from the Malagasy species.
Discussion
The present results make a consistent treatment of Cynanchum L. difficult. The two extreme alternatives supported by the data and cladistic theory are either to recognize each clade as an independent genus, or to unite
all clades to a very broadly circumscribed genus Cynanchum. As the first option would result in many small,
morphologically poorly discernible genera, the second
alternative is more practicable. On the other hand, this
would mean that well established, easily recognizable
Fig. 9. Stem anatomy. A. Cynanchum
pycnoneuroides, cross-section of succulent stem of the only leafy species in the
succulent clade. B. Funastrum clausum,
palisade parenchyma. Abbreviations as
in Fig. 8; P: palisade parenchyma.
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
Cynanchum and the Cynanchinae
265
Fig. 10. Latex triterpenoid patterns. A. Funastrum clausum (Liede
& Conrad 2599, MO). B. Pentarrhinum insipidum (Meve & Liede
584, MO). C. Cynanchum papillatum (Liede et al. 2622, MO).
D. Cynanchum pachycladon (Liede
et al. 2663, MO). E. Sarcostemma
pearsonii (Liede & Hammer 2520,
UBT). F. Cynanchum arenarium
(Liede et al. 2739, MO).
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
266
Liede & Kunze
genera would have to be abandoned. Thus, the genera
Glossonema, Odontanthera, Pentarrhinum, Metaplexis,
Metalepis, Folotsia, Karimbolea, Platykeleba and Sarcostemma are all candidates for inclusion in a large Cynanchum. Some genera not analyzed here due to lack of
material, e.g. the Asian Adelostemma Hook. f., might be
likely candidates as well. However, especially for the
Asian taxa and the American Metalepis, more species
would need to be analyzed before such far-reaching conclusions can be drawn.
Our results show that all leafless stem-succulent genera (Folotsia, Karimbolea, Platykeleba and Sarcostemma) are monophyletic with stem-succulent Cynanchum,
and that this group is derived from the likewise monophyletic Malagasy subgroup of Cynanchum. Evidence
comes from both a chloroplast and a nuclear molecular
marker, as well as from stem anatomy and triterpenoid
analysis. Therefore, these genera are included in Cynanchum here. While the former three genera are small
and endemic to Madagascar, Sarcostemma comprises
about 20 species even after the transfer of all American
members to Funastrum, Philibertia Kunth and Tetraphysa Schltr. (Liede 1996b; Liede & Täuber 2000). The
necessary name changes on species level have already
been made for the Malagasy representatives (Liede &
Meve 2001), and will be made for African and Australasian Sarcostemma following species-level revision
of the group (Liede et al., in prep.). The hypothesis of
Liede (1997a) and Meve & Liede (2002), that the colonization of mainland Africa by Cynanchum gerrardii
and of the whole Old World Tropics by Sarcostemma
originated in Madagascar, is supported independently by
the cpDNA and the rDNA data. Both C. gerrardii and
Sarcostemma are members of the succulent clade, which
is nested in the well-supported clade of otherwise exclusively Malagasy species. The identity of all partial sequences for the African and Malagasy accessions of
C. gerrardii points to a fairly recent event. In Sarcostemma, the identity of cpDNA sequences between S. viminale and the morphologically most distinctive S. pearsonii, along with only three base changes between the
two species for ITS, also points to recent radiation and
speciation of Sarcostemma on the African mainland.
Preliminary RAPD data (Liede et al., unpubl.) agree
with this conclusion. The short distances between the
Malagasy species, in particular the stem-succulent ones,
compared to the African species in both datasets (Fig. 4)
also allows the speculation that the radiation of the
Malagasy species is a fairly recent event, because it is
unlikely that both ITS and cpDNA should undergo a parallel slowdown in modification rate in Madagascar.
The phylogeny resulting from the molecular data explains both the triterpenoid and the stem anatomical data.
Both studies were begun in the early 1990s to clarify the
phylogeny of stem-succulent Malagasy Cynanchum relaOrg. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
tives, and were abandoned because of the then inexplicable similarity between then well-established genera on
the one hand and the differences between species then
believed to belong to one genus on the other hand (Sarcostemma sensu Holm; Liede 1996b, Liede & Täuber
2000). In the triterpenoid dataset, C. arenarium and C.
perrieri share an apomorphic pattern (Fig. 10F), while all
other stem-succulent species studied show slight variations of the basic pattern (Fig. 10E). In the anatomical
dataset, the four basic patterns described by Puech
(1912) can be retrieved: the basic pattern without any noticeable specialisations (e.g., C. rauhianum, Fig. 8A); the
“Sarcostemma” pattern with single sclerenchymatic fibres dispersed in the parenchyma of the cortex (Fig. 8C,
D); the C. gerrardii pattern with sclerenchymatic fibres
in the pith; and, as a specialisation of the preceding one,
the C. messeri–C. mahafalense pattern with the pith consisting almost exclusively of lignified cells and sclerenchymatic fibres (Fig. 8B). However, only the
C. messeri–C. mahafalense pattern coincides with a
clade retrieved by molecular analysis. The two Malagasy
leafy stem-succulent species share the basic anatomical
pattern (Fig. 9A). The large-leaved C. pachycladon is
basal to the stem-succulent clade following ITS and combined data (Figs 2–4), whereas the linear-leaved C. pycnoneuroides is an undisputed member of the stem-succulent clade, so that its leaves must be understood as a secondary development.
The leafy non-succulent Malagasy species fall in two
unsupported clades. Well supported is the subclade C.
erythranthum/C. sessiliflorum/C. papillatum/C. cucullatum. In this clade, the former three species have reddish
flowers in which the gynostegium is entirely enclosed
by the corolla throughout anthesis. C. sessiliflorum (and
C. junciforme, which was not available for analysis) had
been described under a different genus, Pycnoneurum,
by Decaisne (1838), but were transferred to Cynanchum
by Liede (1993a). The high support of the sister species
pairs C. comorense/C. danguyanum and C. obovatum/
C. repandum is reflected in the morphological similarity
of these species. It is surprising, though, that each of the
two clades of leafy Malagasy species harbours a subclade with linear-leafed, tuberous species (C. angavokeliense, C. lineare, C. moramangense, and C. sessiliflorum, C. cucullatum, C. papillatum, respectively). Therefore, this conspicuous habit must have evolved more
than once in Madagascar.
The present results indicate that the small Afro-Arabian genera Pentarrhinum, Glossonema and Odontanthera are monophyletic, and together form a subclade
within Cynanchum, as Liede et al. (2002) have demonstrated. This clade is characterized by thick-walled, ornamented fruits. However, as no further morphological
or chemical evidence could be found, name changes are
left to a species-level revision of the group.
Cynanchum and the Cynanchinae
The Asian members of subgen. Rhodostegiella (C.
auriculatum and C. thesioides) form a clade together
with Metaplexis, indicating that Metaplexis should be
included in Cynanchum as well. Again, evidence is not
considered sufficient to execute the necessary name
changes. Affinities of subgen. Rhodostegiella, the remaining Asian species (e.g. C. ovalifolium) and the
seven true Australian Cynanchum species (Forster 1991,
Liede 1996a), of which only C. floribundum was available for the present study, need to be studied further as
the ITS data (Fig. 2) indicate that these species might
form a monophyletic subclade of Cynanchum.
Likewise, Metalepis albiflora is member of the American subgen. Mellichampia following both molecular
datasets. Again, only one species of the genus could be
analyzed and there is no additional chemical or morphological evidence, so that no name changes are made
here. The distances between the American species are as
long as between the members of the C. acutum group
and the Pentarrhinum group (Fig. 4), and hint at an old
event.
The exclusion of the Somalian C. galgalense from
Cynanchum by both molecular datasets (Figs 1–4) is
surprising considering its morphological characters
(Liede 1993b). The only character unusual for Cynanchum concerns its long, bostrychoid, persistent inflorescences. Unfortunately, its latex color is still unknown. The highly fused corona of C. galgalense does
not indicate a relationship to C. obtusifolium or another
member of the C. africanum clade as suggested by Liede
(1993b), but must be interpreted as parallelism. An attempt to align the cpDNA sequences of the two C. galgalense accessions to other published datasets (Liede
2001; Liede & Täuber in press) showed that the species
occupies an isolated position in the Asclepiadeae and is
not a member of any of the circumscribed subtribes
(Liede, unpubl.).
The African Cynanchum species fall into three
clades. The problem that a morphological synapomorphy, or at least a unique character combination, could
not be found even for well-supported clades is a frequent phenomenon in Asclepiadoideae (e.g., Liede
2001). In this subfamily, reticulate evolution and parallelisms are the normal condition and not the exception,
both within and between genera (Liede & Täuber
2000; Meve & Liede 2001). The basal, predominantly
East African/Somalian C. clavidens-clade is well supported. Morphologically, it consists of two subclades.
The first comprises the rhizomataceous C. orangeanum and C. praecox, with linear and elliptical
leaves, respectively. In the second subclade, leaves are
triangular to hastate in outline. The clade is characterized by leaf bases that are never deeply cordate, and by
a corona that is fused for about half of its length and
possesses pronounced staminal and interstaminal
267
lobes. The following, mostly southern African
C. africanum-clade (C. altiscandens and C. rungweense are East African species) is moderately supported, at least for the core species. Morphologically it
is characterized by at the most shallowly cordate leaf
bases and a highly fused corona (with the exception of
C. meyeri, a shrubby Namibian endemic). The third
clade, the C. adalinae-clade, comprises the large
African twiners with normally deeply cordate leaf
bases. However, C. falcatum and C. schistoglossum
have much less pronouncedly cordate leaf bases. This
clade is split into a West and an East African subclade
(Fig. 3). Most members of this clade are unresolved in
the cpDNA analysis, and only the C. longipes –
C. adalinae sister species relationship is well supported. Corona shape is highly diverse in this clade, normally the staminal lobes are longer than the interstaminal ones, and ligules are present in some species
(C. abyssinicum). This clade combines with the Asian,
the American and the Pentarrhinum-clade to form a
subclade of Cynanchum in sister-group position to the
Malagasy subclade (Fig. 3). All these clades are constant and some even well supported, but basal resolution is unsupported. This pattern of speciation, in
which several clades can be distinguished but no or unsupported basal resolution is found between them,
seems to be rather frequent in Asclepiadoideae, as a
similar situation has been encountered in Tylophora
(Liede et al. in press) and in the stapeliads (Meve &
Liede in press). One might speculate that a rather old
group of taxa has undergone geographic isolation and
is now evolving in different parts of the world at different speeds and reacting to different selection pressures,
while at the same time hardly changed members of the
genus are still extant in Africa, the center of origin of
Asclepiadoideae (Kunze et al. 1994).
Taxonomic treatment
Cynanchum L.
Cynanchum L., Sp. Pl.: 212. 1 May 1753. – Type: C.
acutum L.
≡ Sarmasikia Bubani, Fl. Pyren. 1: 550. 1897, nom.
illeg.
= Bunburia Harv. Gen. S. Afr. Pl., ed. I: 416. Jul–Dec
1838. – Type: B. elliptica Harv.
= Colostephanus Harv., Gen. S. Afr. Pl., ed. I: 417, in
nota. 1838. – Type: C. capensis Harv.
= Cyathella Decne. in Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot., sér. 2,9: 332.
Jun 1838. ≡ Cynoctonum E. Mey., Comm. Pl. Afr.
Austr.: 215. 1–8 Jan 1838 [non Cynoctonum J. F.
Gmel., Syst. Nat. 2: 306, 443. Sep(sero)-Nov 1791.
(Loganiaceae)]. – Type: non designatus.
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
268
Liede & Kunze
= Decanema Decne. in Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot., sér. 2,9:
338. Jun 1838. – Type: D. bojerianum Decne.
= Decanemopsis Costantin & Gall. in Bull. Mus. Hist.
Nat. (Paris) 12: 418. 1906. – Type: D. aphylla
Costantin & Gall. Syn. nov.
= Diploglossum Meisn., Pl. Vasc. Gen. 1: 269; 2:176.
5–11 Apr 1840. – Type: non designatus.
= Drepanostemma Jum. & H. Perrier in Rev. Gén. Bot.
23: 256. 1911. – Type: D. luteum Jum. & H. Perrier.
Syn. nov.
= Flanagania Schltr. in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 18, Beibl. 45:
10. 22 Jun 1894. – Type: F. orangeana Schltr.
= Folotsia Costantin & Bois in Compt. Rend. Hebd.
Séances Acad. Sci. 147: 258. 1908. – Type: F. sarcostemmatoides Costantin & Bois. Syn. nov.
= Karimbolea Desc. in Cactus 15: 77. Oct-Dec 1960. –
Type: K. verrucosa Desc. Syn. nov.
= Mahafalia Jum. & H. Perrier in Rev. Gén. Bot. 23:
255. 1911. – Type: M. nodosa Jum. & H. Perrier.
= Mellichampia A. Gray ex S. Watson in Proc. Amer.
Acad. Arts 22: 437. 25 Jun 1887. – Type: M.
rubescens A. Gray ex S. Watson.
= Monostemma Turcz. in Bjull. Moskovsk. Obsc. Isp.
Prir., Otd. Biol. 21(1): 255. 1848. – Type: non designatus. Syn. nov.
= Nematostemma Choux in Compt. Rend. Hebd.
Séances Acad. Sci. 172: 1310. 1921. – Type: N. perrieri Choux.
= Perianthostelma Baill., Hist. Pl. 10: 247. Jul–Aug
1890. – Type: non designatus.
= Platykeleba N. E. Br., Bull. Misc. Inform. 1895: 250.
Oct 1895. – Type: P. insignis N. E. Br. Syn. nov.
= Pycnoneurum Decne. in Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot., sér. 2,9:
340. 1838. – Lectotype: P. junciforme Decne.
= Rouliniella Vail in Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 29: 662. 30
Dec 1902. – Lectotype: R. corymbosa (Decne.) Bullock (Roulinia corymbosa Decne.) ≡ Roulinia Decne.
in Candolle, Prodr. 8: 516. Mar(med.) 1844 (non
Roulinia Brongn. in Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot., sér. 2,14:
320. Nov 1840, nom. illeg., [Liliaceae]).
= Sarcocyphula Harv., Thes. Cap. 2: 58. 1863. – Type:
S. gerrardii Harv.
= Sarcostemma R. Br., Prodr.: 462. 27 Mar 1810. – Lectotype: S. viminale (L.) R. Br. ex R. W. Holm (Euphorbia viminalis L.). Syn. nov.
= Symphyoglossum Turcz. in Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 21(1): 255. 1848. – Type: S. hastatum
(Bunge) Turcz., nom. rej. [non Symphyglossum
Schltr. in Orchis 13: 8. 15 Feb 1919. (Orchidaceae),
nom. cons.].
= Voharanga Costantin & Bois in Compt. Rend. Hebd.
Séances Acad. Sci. 147: 259. 1908. – Type: V. madagascariensis Costantin & Bois.
= Vohemaria Buchenau in Abh. Naturwiss. Ver. Bremen
10: 372. 1889. – Type: V. messeri Buchenau.
Org. Divers. Evol. (2002) 2, 239–269
At the species level, the necessary name changes for
Malagasy species have been made in advance in order
that the new names are available for the Flora of Madagascar treatment (Liede & Meve 2001). The remaining
species to be renamed all belong to the former genus
Sarcostemma, of which a RAPD study is well advanced
(Liede, Gebauer & Meve, unpubl. data). To reduce name
changes to a minimum, the African, Asian and Australian Sarcostemma species will only be renamed after
completion of this study.
Acknowledgements
Studies in the genus Cynanchum have been sponsored for
many years by the DFG (LI 496). M. Chase, Kew, extracted an
extra set of Cynanchum specimens. A. Nicholas, Pietermaritzburg, R. Omlor, Mainz, L. Allorge, Paris, R. Mangelsdorff,
Frankfurt, P. Morat, Paris, P. Raven, St. Louis, MO,
M. Teissier, Les Cèdres, and M. Thulin, Uppsala, collected
fresh material for this study or made it available from collections under their care. Studies of triterpenoids were carried out
in the laboratory of Prof. P. G. Mahlberg, Bloomington, IN.
Dr. U. Meve, Bayreuth, offered valuable criticism on the
manuscript.
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