Angiosperms are the cornerstone of most terrestrial ecosystems and human livelihoods^1,2. A robust understanding of angiosperm evolution is required to explain their rise to ecological dominance. So far, the angiosperm tree of life has been determined primarily by means of analyses of the plastid genome^3,4. Many studies have drawn on this foundational work, such as classification and first insights into angiosperm diversification since their Mesozoic origins^5–7. However, the limited and biased sampling of both taxa and genomes undermines confidence in the tree and its implications. Here, we build the tree of life for almost 8,000 (about 60%) angiosperm genera using a standardized set of 353 nuclear genes⁸. This 15-fold increase in genus-level sampling relative to comparable nuclear studies⁹ provides a critical test of earlier results and brings notable change to key groups, especially in rosids, while substantiating many previously predicted relationships. Scaling this tree to time using 200 fossils, we discovered that early angiosperm evolution was characterized by high gene tree conflict and explosive diversification, giving rise to more than 80% of extant angiosperm orders. Steady diversification ensued through the remaining Mesozoic Era until rates resurged in the Cenozoic Era, concurrent with decreasing global temperatures and tightly linked with gene tree conflict. Taken together, our extensive sampling combined with advanced phylogenomic methods shows the deep history and full complexity in the evolution of a megadiverse clade.

A molecular phylogeny of Asiatic species of Goodyera (Orchidaceae, Cranichideae, Goodyerinae) based on the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and two chloroplast loci (matK and trnL-F) was presented. Thirty-five species represented by 132 samples of Goodyera were analyzed, along with other 27 genera/48 species, using Pterostylis longifolia and Chloraea gaudichaudii as outgroups. Bayesian inference, maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood methods were used to reveal the intrageneric relationships of Goodyera and its intergeneric relationships to related genera. The results indicate that: 1) Goodyera is not monophyletic; 2) Goodyera could be divided into four sections, viz., Goodyera, Otosepalum, Reticulum and a new section; 3) sect. Reticulum can be further divided into two subsections, viz., Reticulum and Foliosum, whereas sect. Goodyera can in turn be divided into subsections Goodyera and a new subsection.

In this study, an updated checklist of Orchidaceae for China is presented based on all recently available literature and online resources relevant to new taxa, national or regional new records, and new taxonomic papers. This checklist includes 208 genera and 1695 taxa. Additionally, two new national records for Orchidaceae from Yunnan, viz. Rhomboda lanceolata and Porpax elwesii, are reported with detailed morphological descriptions and illustrations.

Anoectochilus Blume (1825: 411; Orchidaceae) belongs to subtribe Goodyerinae (Cranichideae; Orchidoideae; Pridgeon et al. 2003). The generic name is derived from the Greek words ‘anoiktos’ (open) and ‘cheilos’ (lip), referring to the flower with prominent lip giving an open appearance (Sumathi et al. 2003, Bhattacharjee 2013). The genus consists of about 30 species according to Genera orchidacearum (Pridgeon et al. 2003), distributed in India and the eastern Himalayas, through southern and southeastern Asia to Australia and the southeastern Pacific islands (Chen et al. 2009). There are 15 species of Anoectochilus in China, eight of which were reported from Yunnan previously (Chen et al. 2009, Chen & Shui 2010, Hu et al. 2012, Ormerod 2013).