Notes on the Matelea Bayatensis-correllii-tigrina Complex (apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae: Gonolobinae) in the Greater Antilles and Bahamas

As a component of a larger study of the West Indian Matelea subgenus Ptycanthera, this study sought to critically examine patterns of morphological variation within the embedded M. bayatensiscorrellii-tigrina complex. Resolution of species-level circumscriptions are necessary before larger issues of subgeneric and generic circumscription can be adequately addressed. Morphological characters were analyzed using parsimony analysis, neighbor-joining, and ANOVA. Results show that Matelea bayatensis, M. correllii, and M. tigrina are very closely related morphologically. The three species appear to differ only in pubescence and relatively minor floral character states, some of which overlap. At present, none of the observed variation appears important enough to warrant the continued recognition of three distinct species.