The Genistoids are one of the major
radiations in the plant
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
. Members of this
phylogenetic clade are primarily found in the
Southern hemisphere.
Some genera are
pollinated
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds, ...
by birds.
The genistoid clade is consistently resolved as
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 ...
in
molecular phylogenetic analyses.
It is estimated to have arisen 56.4 ± 0.2 million years ago (in the
Paleocene
The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), E ...
).
A node-based definition for the genistoids is: "the
MRCA of ''
Poecilanthe parviflora'' and ''
Lupinus argenteus
''Lupinus argenteus'' is a species of lupine known by the common name silvery lupine. It is native to much of western North America from the southwestern Canadian provinces to the southwestern and midwestern United States, where it grows in seve ...
''."
One morphological
synapomorphy
In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have ...
has been tentatively identified: production of
quinolizidine
Quinolizidine (norlupinane, octahydro-2''H''-quinolizine) is a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound. Some alkaloids (e.g. cytisine and sparteine) are derivatives of quinolizidine.
Quinolizidine alkaloids
Quinolizidine alkaloids, such as ...
alkaloids.
Some genera also accumulate
pyrrolizidine.
A new genus, to be segregated from ''
Clathrotropis'', has also been proposed to occupy an undetermined position within the genistoid clade.
Core Genistoids
The core genistoids, also known as the genistoids ''sensu stricto'', comprise most of the tribes of the genistoids ''sensu lato'', and are found mainly in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and
Eurasia
Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...
.
This subclade is also consistently resolved as monophyletic.
A node-based definition for the core genistoids is: "the
MRCA of ''
Bolusanthus speciosus'' and ''
Spartium junceum
''Spartium junceum'', known as Spanish broom, rush broom, or weaver's broom, it is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and the sole species in the genus ''Spartium''. It is closely related to the other brooms (in the genera '' Cy ...
''."
Systematics
Modern
molecular phylogenetics
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 ...
suggest the following relationships:
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q18343763
Faboideae
Plant unranked clades