| The generic limits within the Paullinieae are discussed ancillary to a presentation of the vegetative and reproductive characters used to define Paullinia and its infrageneric taxa. It is concluded that Paullinia, as previously delimited, is a heterogeneous, paraphyletic assemblage of species. The classification of Paullinia as proposed by Radlkofer is modified in order to bring the recognition of taxa previously assigned to Paullinia into consistent application with the other genera in the tribe.; The taxonomic conclusions show that the economically important guarana no longer is assignable to the genus Paullinia. The implications of this nomenclatural change are discussed. Observations on the economic botany of guarana are presented, and ideas about its wild relatives are postulated. |
