Towards a monophyletic Licania: a new generic classification of the polyphyletic Neotropical genus Licania (Chrysobalanaceae)

Licania, currently the most species-rich genus of Chrysobalanaceae, is confined to the Neotropics, and is highly polyphyletic in molecular phylogenetic analyses. These studies show that the three subgenera of Licania, as well as sections within them, are not supported as monophyletic. Here we re-delimit the genus using a molecular phylogenetic analysis as a framework. We recognise the following eight genera: core Licania, Moquilea, Leptobalanus, Hymenopus, Microdesmia, Parinariopsis, Geobalanus; and Cordillera gen. nov. is described to accommodate Licania platycalyx. New combinations, as well as a description of each genus and a key to the species are provided, in addition to a key for all the Neotropical genera of the family, including those presented here. Chrysobalanaceae now comprise sixteen Neotropical genera and the redefined Licania, with c. 100 species, is then the second largest genus in the family after Hirtella (107 species). © 2016, The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.