Phylogenomics of African Melastomateae (Melastomataceae): Revisiting generic relationships, placement of three enigmatic taxa and description of two new genera

Abstract Evolutionary relationships within the Melastomateae, a diverse tribe within the Melastomataceae, are not yet completely resolved, and some putatively paleoendemic taxa that might alter relationships are still unsampled. This study employs a phylogenomic approach, utilizing target capture data, to revisit generic relationships and shed light on the placement of three enigmatic taxa ( Dionychastrum schliebenii , Dissotis leonensis , Diss. splendens ) within the African Melastomateae. Using 90 accessions (64 newly sequenced), spanning known genera, unplaced taxa and phylogenetically unsampled taxa, and leveraging high‐throughput sequencing and Melastomataceae‐specific baits, we captured a set of 384 putative single‐copy protein‐coding nuclear loci. Overall, our phylogenomic analyses reaffirm the monophyly of the Paleotropical Melastomateae, its two primary lineages (Euheterotis clade, Pseudoheterotis clade), and a sister‐group relationship of the Malagasy and Asian Melastomateae which are nested within the African Melastomateae. Except for Melastomastrum and Osbeckia , which are not monophyletic in our analyses, the rest of the Paleotropical genera previously circumscribed are again recovered. For the Guinea endemic Dissotis splendens we create the new genus Allodissotis and the new combination Allodissotis splendens . We also elevate Dissotis subg. Paleodissotis to the rank of genus, with D. leonensis from Guinea and Sierra Leone as the lone species, for which we create the new combination Paleodissotis leonensis . Morphologically, seed and wood anatomy of Allodissotis splendens and Paleodissotis leonensis support their placement in the tribe Melastomateae, with the latter being sister to the rest of the Pseudoheterotis clade. Our study presents a molecular insight into the Uluguru Mountains (Tanzania) endemic species Dionychastrum schliebenii , revealing it as sister to the eastern African endemic Dissotidendron clade.