The tribe Exostyleae is an early-branching

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

of the

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

subfamily

Faboideae The Faboideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternative name for the subfamily is Papilionoideae, or Papilionaceae when this group of plants is treated as a family. This subfamily is wide ...

(or Papilionaceae) that are mostly found in Neotropical rainforests.

Description

This clade is composed of 6 genera, most of which were traditionally assigned to the tribe

Swartzieae The tribe Swartzieae is an early-branching monophyletic clade of the flowering plant subfamily Faboideae or Papilionaceae. Traditionally this tribe has been used as a wastebasket taxon to accommodate genera of Faboideae which exhibit actinomorphi ...

. However, recent

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analyses

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

these six genera into a strongly supported monophyletic clade. Synapomorphic traits that unite the members of this clade include non-papilionate flowers, "serrate and sometimes spinescent leaflet or leaf margins, standard position variable in the floral bud, basifixed anthers, and drupaceous fruits". They are also united by

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

anatomy, sharing an "uncommon presence of crystals in ray cells", and floral

ontogeny Ontogeny (also ontogenesis) is the origination and development of an organism (both physical and psychological, e.g., moral development), usually from the time of fertilization of the egg to adult. The term can also be used to refer to the stu ...

, sharing "unidirectional initiation of five sepals, simultaneous initiation of petals, and ��nusual antepetalous stamens initiating before the antesepalous ones."

Genera

* ''

Exostyles ''Exostyles'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae The Faboideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternative name for the sub ...

'' Schott * ''

Harleyodendron ''Harleyodendron unifoliolatum'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae The Faboideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternat ...

'' R. S. Cowan * ''

Holocalyx ''Holocalyx balansae'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae The Faboideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternative name f ...

'' Micheli * ''

Lecointea ''Lecointea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It contains the following species: * '' Lecointea amazonica'' Ducke * '' Lecointea ovalifolia'' J.F. Macbr. * '' Lecointea peruviana'' J.F. Macbr. * '' Lecointea tango'' (Standl ...

'' Ducke. * ''

Uribea ''Uribea tamarindoides'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae The Faboideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternative name ...

'' Dugand & Romero * ''

Zollernia ''Zollernia'' is a genus of the family Fabaceae native to Central and South America. ''Zollernia'' are trees or shrubs that flower annually. Leaves of ''Zollernia ilicifolia'' are used medicinally as an analgesic and antiulcerogenic by the p ...

'' Wied-Neuw. & Nees

References

Faboideae {{Faboideae-stub