XVI International Botanical Congess

There are ca.175 species in the subtribe Myrtinae in the Americas. These can be distributed into 15 genera, the largest being Psidium with ca. 70 species and Campomanesia with ca. 30. Both these genera are morphologically well marked with unique apomorphic character states. A few apomorphic character states have been discovered that link genera together, e.g., a series of characteristics related to bird pollination in Myrrhinium and Acca. Morphology can only provide fragments of a hypothetical phylogeny at present. Preliminary molecular data appear to support this phylogeny. Certain geographic patterns appear to repeat themselves among the genera, e.g., Ugni and Myrteola in west temperate South American and the Andes, Pimenta and Mosiera in the Caribbean and southeastern Brazil.