The genus Hybanthus of the Violet Family (Violaceae) is non-monophyletic, meaning that not all species of Hybanthus share a most recent common ancestor. Previous phylogenetic analysis in the Violet Family suggested that Hybanthus concolor from eastern North America was resolved as a sister taxon to a clade of two Hybanthus species from the Caribbean region (Wahlert et al., 2014). The two clades display distinct differences in morphology, climate, and geographic distribution. In this project, we conducted expanded DNA sequencing of North American and Caribbean Hybanthus species to test the hypothesis that these two groups represent distinct evolutionary genera.
