Phylogeny and historical biogeography of the <i>Pachira</i> sensu lato clade (Bombacoideae, Malvaceae) with a new infrageneric classification

Abstract We explore phylogenetic relationships within the Pachira sensu lato clade (Bombacoideae, Malvaceae), test the monophyly of the genera Eriotheca and Pachira , and investigate their biogeographic history. The Pachira s.l. clade comprises ca. 72 species that traditionally have been placed in Eriotheca and Pachira. We sampled ca. 79% of its species diversity and used nuclear and chloroplast molecular markers to infer phylogenetic hypotheses under maximum likelihood and Bayesian frameworks, as well as ancestral characters states and biogeographic areas. Our analyses indicate that neither Eriotheca nor Pachira s.str. are monophyletic but they support the monophyly of seven subgenera. The “Amazonian Pachira clade” is here formally named as Pachira subg. Pachira (with bicolored staminal filaments); the “Extra‐Amazonian Pachira clade” as Pachira subg. Viridipetalae subg. nov. (green petals); and Pachira calophylla constitutes Pachira subg. Longissimae subg. nov. (longest leaflet petiolules in Pachira ). We combined all subgenera and species of Eriotheca under a broadly conceived Pachira with 72 species. Our ancestral‐area reconstruction suggests that expansion of the Dry Diagonal may have been an evolutionary driver of clades within Pachira . The diversification of Pachira may reflect broad patterns observed in other Neotropical plant families.