Agradecimentos: We would like to thank the Universidade Estadual de Campinas, in the figure of Professor Dr. Samantha Koehler, for the infrastructure of the Molecular Biology Laboratory, used for the extractions and amplifications performed in this study. PO also thanks Raquel Moura Machado for her help in the laboratory activities. This study was financed in part by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel – Brazil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001, and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development [processes 141913/2020-6 and 442162/2020-0]. PO also thanks The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund [Grant 210528056] and IDEA WILD for support [Grant Number ORLABRAZ0121] Ver menos

Abstract: The latest phylogenetic and taxonomic studies emphasizing Phyllanthus (Phyllanthaceae) have significantly altered the relationships between its taxa. In this work, we inferred a phylogeny for the Brazilian phyllocladiferous species of Phyllanthus, traditionally included within Phyllanthus sects. Choretropsis and Xylophylla from eastern Brazil and Caribbean, respectively. Our analysis demonstrated that Brazilian phyllocladiferous species has no relation to P. sect. Xylophylla from the Caribbean, but sect. Choretropsis, as it currently stands, does not form a monophyletic group. Thus, phylloclades arose in Phyllanthus at least in five distinct clades. Most species of sect. Choretropsis are recovered among representatives of other groups (sects. Antipodanthus and Phyllanthus subsect. Claussenianii), but no macromorphological feature could be traced for the clades we recovered. One exception is a clade containing P. dracenoides, P. gladiatus and P. pedicellatus, species with dracenoid habit and exclusive to the humid dense forests along Atlantic Forest domain, for which we describe a new section Ver menos