Phylogenetics of Impatiens and Hydrocera (Balsaminaceae) using chloroplast atpB-rbcL spacer sequences

Balsaminaceae are a morphologically diverse family with ca. 1,000 representatives that are mainly distributed in the Old World tropics and subtropics. To understand the relationships of its members, we obtained chloroplast atpB-rbcL sequences from 86 species of Balsaminaceae and five outgroups. Phylogenetic reconstructions using parsimony and Bayesian approaches provide a well-resolved phylogeny in which the sister group relationship between Impatiens and Hydrocera is confirmed. The overall topology of Impatiens is strongly supported and is geographically structured. Impatiens likely originated in South China from which it colonized the adjacent regions and afterwards dispersed into North America, Africa, India, the Southeast Asian peninsula, and the Himalayan region.