Historical biogeography of Rhododendron section Vireya and the Malesian Archipelago

Abstract

Aim: Vireya rhododendrons are distinctive and easily recognizable by their general form; however, they are virtually circumscribed geographically, predominantly distributed throughout the biogeographically intriguing Malesian Archipelago. Hypotheses of the evolutionary relationships of the group have been proposed but the biogeography of vireyas has not been analysed based on molecular phylogeny. Recently, the first detailed molecular phylogenetic investigation of section Vireya was completed based on cp- and nrDNA sequence data, therefore making this cladistic biogeographic study of vireya rhododendrons possible. Location: Malesia, Australia, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Himalayas, north Vietna..