An updated classification of the basal grade of Asteraceae (= Compositae): from Cabrera’s 1977 tribe Mutisieae to the present

Abstract

A thorough morphological circumscription of the tribe Mutisieae (Asteraceae) was established in 1977 by Angel L. Cabrera (1908–1999), who made fundamental worldwide contributions to the taxonomy of the family Asteraceae. The advance of molecular phylogenetic studies resulted in portrayals of relationships that have impacted the classification of the whole family and particularly of the Mutisieae. The publication of the book Systematics, Evolution and Biogeography of the Compositae in 2009, with the collaboration of the main worldwide specialists in the family, represented another fundamental milestone in the classification of the tribe. Mutisieae, which was previously thought to be nested far up in the phylogenetic tree of the family, is now known to be a basal grade, becoming a focus of attention for synantherologists. Traditional Mutisieae, or Mutisieae sensu Cabrera, is now split into numerous new subfamilies, tribes and subtribes. As a result of these changes, genera within the tribe have been reduced from 89 to 48 through new synonymisations, transfers to other tribes, and partly offset by description of 23 new genera. The remaining genera of Mutisieae sensu Cabrera have been placed in tribes of different subfamilies. A synthesis of these changes is presented in tables, in an illustrated key, and in a synopsis of the subfamilies with keys to tribes within the subfamilies.