Abstract
Rafnia (Fabaceae, Crotalarieae) is sub endemic to the fynbos region of South Africa with one species extending to KwaZulu-Natal. Morphological analysis was unable to resolve the relationships within the genus but provided a working hypothesis for future studies. A molecular phylogeny of Rafnia (Fabaceae) is presented. Sequenced data was obtained from five regions of the chloroplast genome (rps16 intron, accD-psa1 spacer, psbA-trnH intergenic spacer, trnL intron and trnL-F intergenic spacer) and one region of the nuclear genome (ITS). Congruence between the plastid and nuclear datasets were very low and combination of datasets was difficult to justify. Several explanations for the incongruent datasets are proposed. In addition to the species-level analyses of Rafnia, a higher-level analysis was carried out with additional taxa sampled from across the ‘core genistoids’. The resulting phylogeny was used to produce an estimate for the age of Rafnia.
Dr. M. van der Bank