| Freziera is a morphologically diverse genus of neotropical, predominantly cloud forest trees. In this monograph, I have reassessed generic and specific limits, clarified the nomenclature (78 names had been proposed prior to this treatment), and examined phylogenetic relationships within the genus. Forty-six species are recognized, eight of which are newly described, fourteen are known from three or fewer collections, and two are based on new combinations of species previously placed in monotypic genera. During the course of the study, characters traditionally used in specific delimitation have been reevaluated and new characters explored. Previously used characters such as position and density of pubescence, and size and texture of leaves have been found to be useless in species delimitation in portions of the genus and are probably, at least in part, environmentally controlled. Characters previously unexamined in Freziera such as nodal and leaf anatomy, hair type, fruit morphology, and external pollen morphology, along with some more traditional characters from vegetative and floral morphology, offer more discrete variation on which to base taxa and hypothesize relationships. Nevertheless, details of phylogenetic relationships in Freziera remain in part obscure given the current state of knowledge of characters and their distribution. |
