Systematics of Ditaxinae and Related Lineages within the Subfamily Acalyphoideae (Euphorbiaceae) Based on Molecular Phylogenetics.

The subtribe Ditaxinae in the plant family Euphorbiaceae is composed of five genera (, , , and ) and approximately 120 species of perennial herbs (rarely annual) to treelets. The subtribe is distributed throughout the Americas, with the exception of , which also occurs in tropical Africa and Madagascar. Under the current classification, Ditaxinae includes genera with a questionable morphology-based taxonomy, especially , and .

Forgotten forests--issues and prospects in biome mapping using Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests as a case study.

Background: South America is one of the most species diverse continents in the world. Within South America diversity is not distributed evenly at both local and continental scales and this has led to the recognition of various areas with unique species assemblages. Several schemes currently exist which divide the continental-level diversity into large species assemblages referred to as biomes.