Towards systematic stability in the maranta clade (Marantaceae, Zingiberales): insights from expanded molecular and morphological data and the proposal of a new genus

Abstract The largest diversity of Marantaceae evolved in the Neotropics, through two major clades. One of them, the so-called Maranta Clade, is headed by the type genus Maranta along with six genera whose morphological circumscriptions have continued to overlap over different classifications. Maranta has been recovered as polyphyletic in the most recent phylogenies encompassing Hylaeanthe and Myrosma . Thus, we investigated the generic limits within the Maranta Clade, performing a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis using nuclear and morphological data, and the reconstruction of ancestral character states (RACS). The Maranta Clade was recovered as strictly neotropical for the first time. It is formed by a crown node encompassing Saranthe , Stromanthe, Dolichopoda and Ctenanthe , an unplaced Maranta cannifolia, and two lineages of the non-monophyletic Maranta , along with some non-resolved species placement. Infrageneric taxa could not be delimited for Maranta . A more extensive sampling for Saranthe confirmed its monophyly, although inserted in a major lineage: a clade of moderate support, also sustained by morphological synapomorphies, holding Ctenanthe, Dolichopoda, Saranthe, and Stromanthe. RACS analysis enhanced the relevance of the fruit morphology and confirmed the fruit shape as a synapomorphy of the clade assembling Ctenanthe , Dolichopoda, Saranthe , and Stromanthe . The Amazonian species Ctenanthe ericae was recovered unplaced within this major clade, making Ctenanthe paraphyletic. Thus, we propose the new genus Braganthe to accommodate this lineage.