Expanding Ventilago to incorporate Smythea: new combinations in Ventilagineae (Rhamnaceae) based on novel sequence data and phylogenetic analysis

Ventilagineae (Rhamnaceae) is a tribe of palaeotropical climbing plants, comprising two genera: Smythea and Ventilago. Previous studies have established the monophyly of the tribe, but the relationships within it remain unclear. This research includes six species of Smythea and seven species of Ventilago in a molecular phylogeny using the Angiosperms353 probe set. The results show that Ventilago is paraphyletic, with Smythea nested within it. To resolve this issue, we propose to merge Smythea into Ventilago. To achieve this, we make seven new combinations in Ventilago as well as resurrecting five names previously published in Ventilago but subsequently transferred to Smythea. In addition, we typify Ventilago.