Tribe Colocasieae (Araceae) in Indonesia

Abstract

Colocasieae Engler is one of the members of Araceae family which has high economic value. In Malesia, especially in Indonesia Colocasieae consist of 3 genera, Remusatia, Colocasia and Alocasia. Study of Araceae especially on the relationship among members of Colocasieae is still poorly known. A total number of 295 specimens deposited in Herbarium Bogoriense (BO), Singapore Herbarium (SING), Bogor Botanical Garden Herbarium and recent collections from several locations in Indonesia such as Mount Wilis (East Java), Mount Watuwila and Natural Forest Ulungolaka (South East of Sulawesi) and Gunung Leuser National Park, Ketambe (Sumatra, Aceh) were examined using morphological approach. 20 species of Colocasieae are known from Indonesia, consisted of 17 species of Alocasia, two species of Colocasia and one species of Remusatia. The presence of Alocasia flemingiana and Remusatia vivipara in several islands in Indonesia is newly reported. Phylogenetic analysis using Maximum Parsimony indicated that each genus is monophyletic. Alocasia is more closely related to Colocasia while Remusatia forms a different clade. The grouping some species in Alocasia clade supports Hay’s 1991 and 1998 group, although these grouping are not supported by high bootstrap value. The lack of phylogenetic signal in morphological data shows the need for additional informative data, such as molecular data for revealing more robust phylogenetic relationships.