A Preliminary Synopsis of Salpiglossis and Other Cestreae (Solanaceae)

The genera Browallia, Cestrum, Hunzikeria, Leptoglossis, Nicotiana, Nierembergia, Petunia, Reyesia, je i puri 'all members a the mainly Neotropical tribe Cestreae of the Solanaceae, are ved and generic lines are discusse ii Hunzikeria, Leptoglossis, Reyesia, and Beete are given extensive eel ion, and a new species of Hunzikeria is described.Bouchetia is placed into synonymy under Lari ae An evolutionary path from primitive ancestors to modern, advanced members of the group is postulated.Several genera of Solanaceae in tribe Cestreae have long been subject to confusion, and this paper suggests resolution of some of the problems.The names Bouchetia, Browallia, Cestrum, Hunzikeria, Leptoglossis, Nicotiana, Nierembergia, Petunia, Reyesia, and Salpiglossis are reviewed.The plants are mostly herbs or diminutive shrubs, and they occur in North and South America, some genera being disjunct.Although the study has spanned five years, this paper must be regarded as a report of unconcluded work rather than a completed investigation.Few living plants were seen and the herbarium survey was not exhaustive.In particular, species limits require definition.As the early emphasis was on North American species, these species receive more detailed treatment than those of South America. CLASSIFICATION AND ORIGINSWettstein (1892, 1895) placed the genera discussed here into two tribes, the Cestreae and Salpiglossideae, separating the Salpiglossideae by their reduced number of stamens.Within the Cestreae, he recognized three subtribes: the Cestrinae with Cestrum and two discordant genera; the Goetzeinae, which is not solanaceous, and the Nicotianinae with Nicotiana and several of the genera discussed here.D'Arcy (in press) placed both tribes in subfamily Cestroideae.In the belief that Cestrum, Nicotiana, and Salpiglossis represent different levels of evolution within the same phylad and should not be separated into different tribes, Wettstein's subtribe Nicotianinae and tribe Salpiglossideae are here united into one tribe, Cestreae.Hunziker (1977) proposed the tribes Schwenkieae and Parabouchetieae for elements in subfamily Cestroideae which are distant from the pre-Cestrum ancestor of tribe Cestreae.Evidence has mounted (Gentry, in press) that the Australian elements of subfamily Cestroideae other than Nicotiana also have origins remote from the Cestrum ancestor and should be separated as tribe Anthocerceae.With separation of these three tribes, most of the other genera of subfamily Cestroideae appear to form a natural unit, the tribe Cestreae, with E ` Assisted by National Science = Grant DEB 72-02441-A05.