Systematics of Vitaceae from the viewpoint of plastid rbcL DNA sequence data

A phylogenetic analysis of plastid rbcL DNA sequences for 20 species of Vitaceae s.l. (including Leeaceae) and eight outgroups from Dilleniaceae and Santalales is presented. Patterns of floral and vegetative morphology and ontogeny within the family are compared to the phylogenetic trees produced. Despite the limited sampling of large and variable genera, there is a good correspondence with hypothesized floral and vegetative ontogenetic trends, with Leea and Ampelopsis ancestral, Cissus and Ampelocissus intermediate and Vitis most derived. A clade containing Parthenocissus, Tetrastigma, Cyphostemma and Vitis is found in all shortest trees. Cyphostemma and Parthenocissus are shown to be closely related to Vitis, to which clade Tetrastigma and Cayratia comprise the sister clade.