I see somebody ran a more robust-looking analysis on Sapindaceae.
This rather confirms what was said here previously
(and thus contradicts the literature):
- Xanthoceras is sister to the rest,
- Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae together are sister to the rest.

So almost any position whatsoever can be defended, but:
- if Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae are families then so is Xanthoceras
(likely by itself, but given the present level of analysis, it may have
unknown allies)
- although the whole can be dumped into one big family Sapindaceae, which
will be a holophyletic unit, it is hardly a necessity.
PvR

In message , P van
Rijckevorsel writes
I see somebody ran a more robust-looking analysis on Sapindaceae.
This rather confirms what was said here previously
(and thus contradicts the literature):
- Xanthoceras is sister to the rest,
- Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae together are sister to the rest.

So almost any position whatsoever can be defended, but:
- if Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae are families then so is Xanthoceras
(likely by itself, but given the present level of analysis, it may have
unknown allies)
- although the whole can be dumped into one big family Sapindaceae, which
will be a holophyletic unit, it is hardly a necessity.
PvR


This would be Harrington et al, Systematic Botany 30(2): 366-382 (2005)?
I see from the abstract that they propose merging Aceraceae and
Hippocastanaceae into a single subfamily.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

"Stewart Robert Hinsley" schreef in

This would be Harrington et al, Systematic Botany 30(2): 366-382 (2005)?
I see from the abstract that they propose merging Aceraceae and
Hippocastanaceae into a single subfamily.

***
That looks right. In the discussion they state that the data allow either:
- splitting into five families or
- merging it into one big family
Both are feasible. They feel it is neater to make just one big family, but
it is mostly a matter of personal taste, or rather the APG-style, now in
vogue, of making big families.

I don't believe that this APG style is necessarily a good thing. To make the
order Malvales into the family Malvaceae is one thing, but the big family
Salicaceae looks to be riding for a fall.
PvR