J. L. Reveal’s Revelance Re-revealed: Addenda to Newly Required Infrafamilial Ranks in Selected Families

This paper presents a preliminary set of addenda establishing new infrafamilial taxa at the ranks of subfamilies, supertribe, tribes and subtribes within selected families of flowering plants mainly for wild and cultivated flora in China and East Asia. The work aims to supplement existing classifications mainly in the paradigm of Linnaean hierarchy, enhancing the balance and phylogenetic coherence of the hierarchical structure in these families. Although there are no widely accepted tenets for designating so called appropriate ranks, the principle set by Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II of treating monogeneric/oligogeneric families as synonyms to their sister groups is here followed and applied when erecting or merging infrafamilial ranks. The addenda cover 70 families (e.g., Anacardiaceae, Apocynaceae, Fabaceae, and Rubiaceae), in which 214 new names (i.e., 23 new subfamilies, 1 new supertribe, 76 new tribes and 115 new subtribes) are validated whether based on existing reference or newly designated types, with diagnoses and included subordinate taxa provided. These newly established taxa, while not necessarily mandatory for use, provide essential, phylogenetically informed options for organizing taxa below the family level and improving the hierarchical structure of angiosperm classification in order to facilitate future study of systematics and compilation of data for plant biodiversity.