Phylogenetic position of M adagascan species of A cacia s.l. and new combinations in S enegalia and V achellia ( F abaceae, M imosoideae, A cacieae)

The recent worldwide effort to transfer all non‐Australian taxa of A cacia s.l. mostly to the genera S enegalia and V achellia follows the acceptance of the proposed re‐typification of the genus with an Australian species. The Madagascan species have, as yet, not been included in phylogenetic studies of A cacia s.l. and their position in the new generic classification of A cacia s.l. is therefore still unclear. In this study, plastid DNA sequence data were generated for seven Madagascan species, included in existing matrices for A cacia s.l. and analysed to assess the placement of these species. The results indicate that the M adagascan species are placed either in S enegalia or V achellia and conform to the morphological characters used to distinguish these genera, despite some taxa having unusual red flowers. New combinations are formalized for Senegalia baronii , S. hildebrandtii , S. kraussiana ssp . madagascariensis , S. menabeensis , S. meridionalis , S. pervillei , S. pervillei ssp . pubescens , S. polhillii , S. sakalava , S. sakalava ssp . hispida , Vachellia bellula , V. myrmecophila and V. vigueri . Nomenclatural errors are also corrected for three African taxa and, as such, new combinations are provided for Senegalia fleckii , S. hamulosa and Vachellia theronii . © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2015, 179 , 288–294.