Familial placement of Cyrtandromoea, Titanotrichum and Sanango, three problematic genera of the Lamiales

Cladistic relationships among Gesneriaceae and related families are investigated using ndhF sequence data, to establish the affinity of three genera whose familial placement was uncertain on the basis of morphological evidence alone. A first analysis, including 18 outgroup species from the Buddlejaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Bignoniaceae, and Acanthaceae resulted in eleven most-parsimonious trees of 5740 steps each. Recent classifications had placed Cyrtandromoea in Scrophulariaceae or Gesneriaceae, Titanotrichum as a monogeneric tribe in Gesneriaceae, and Sanango in either Scrophulariaceae, Gesneriaceae, Loganiaceae, or Buddlejaceae. Sequence data from the chloroplast ndhF gene indicate that they are Gesneriaceae: Cyrtandromoea belongs to the Klugieae, the monogeneric Titanotricheae are perhaps sister to the remainder of the Cyrtandroideae, and Sanango is placed in the Gesnerieae as was predicted by recent morphological and chemical analyses.