Phylogenetic position and taxonomic disposition of Turraea breviflora (Meliaceae), a hitherto enigmatic species

For decades, the rare Malesian shrublet hitherto called Turraea breviflora, was the only species of the pantropical family Meliaceae which could not confidently be placed in a genus. Previous morphological re-investigation led to the exclusion of the species from Turraea and suggested possibly close links with Munronia. In this study, parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses of DNA sequence data from plastid rbcL and nuclear ITS rDNA were used to infer the phylogenetic position of T. breviflora and its affinities to other representatives of the family. Phylogenetic analyses support Mabberley’s (1995a) proposal that the concept of the genus Munronia be expanded to accommodate it. The new combination Munronia breviflora (Ridl.) Mabb. & Muellner is therefore made.