Liabeae is a well-defined neotropical tribe containing approximately 15 genera and 180 species, and occupying a wide variety of habitats throughout Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and Western South America. Despite several comprehensive studies using the morphological characters, fundamental disagreements among the morphological studies persist regarding the precise inter-generic relationships. Phylogenetic analyses of the ITS sequence data show a high level of variation with a strong support for the inter-generic relationship of the Liabeae. However the ndhF phylogeny is more or less incongruent with ITS phylogeny. Nevertheless, there are several important agreements regarding the recognition of the major clades: the subtribe Paranepheliinae, the clade Munnozia/Chrysactinium, the clade Erato/Philoglossa, the paraphyly of the Munnozia, and the new placement of the two Munnozia species outside the core Munnozia . In addition, the ITS tree implies that the genera restricted in narrow area and centered relatively in Southern South America are possibly primitive lineages in the tribe Liabeae.

Key words: ITS, Liabeae, Molecular phylogenetics, ndhF