Revision of Miconia sect. Chaenopleura (Miconieae, Melastomataceae) in the Greater Antilles. 2007. (Syst.Bot.Mon.81) Paper bd.

In the Greater Antilles, Miconia sect. Chaenopleura comprises 47 species of montane shrubs and small trees. The group is likely monophyletic and is characterized by flowers with actinomorphic androecium of white stamens with erectly held, obovate anthers, which open by two longitudinal slits, exposing the contents of the four locules. The presence of a radially symmetrical androecium and usually white anthers are shared with the related Miconia sect. Cremanium. The other androecial features, however, are likely synapomorphies of the Antillean clade of Miconia sect. Chaenopleura. The pale blue berries and more or less smooth seeds may also be synapomorphic for this Antillean clade. Detailed observations of morphological characters relating to vegetative parts, flowers, fruits, and seeds are the bases of this taxonomic treatment, which also includes preliminary cladistic analyses.