Taxonomic chaos
Nolo Contendere (Fri, 08 Oct 2010 19:22:01 PDT)

Alberto,

I have a new Ph.D student from Chile named Nicolás Garcia, who is
working on the Hippeastreae, molecular and morphological studies, using
many different genes. I think you can expect an accurate generic
circumscription of this group in the years to come. "That certain
someone" (he who shall remain nameless) has made a mess of what used to
be Rhodophiala and Zephyranthes. So far, we can safely say 1)
Rhodolirion is a good genus and is more cloesly related to Placea and
Phycella than Rhodophiala sensu stricto. Rhodoliron include R. montanum
( syn. Rhodophiala rhodolirion), R. laetum, and some others. 2) the
core Rhodophiala from Chile are monophyletic and are closely related to
Famatina (which will probably be submerged in Rhodophiala).

Alan