Several genera of Australian sunflowers have been doubtfully placed in various tribes throughout their taxonomic history. Our continuing studies of relationships within the Gnaphalieae have led us to investigate the tribal placement of these enigmatic genera. Therefore, the objective of this study was to elucidate tribal relationships of Cratystylis S. Moore, Isoetopsis Turcz., and Centipeda Lour. by reconstructing their phylogeny within the subfamily Asteroideae This has been accomplished through the use of sequence data from the trnL intron, trnL/trnF intergenic spacer and matK coding region. Cratystylis is a genus of four endemic Australian arid zone shrubs. It has been variously included in the Astereae, Inuleae s. ampl., and even in a paraphyletic Cichorioideae. The monotypic Australian genus Isoetopsis has been assigned to the Anthemideae, quite often as a section within the genus Cotula, as Cotula sect. Isoetopsis (Turcz.) Baillon. A placement of Isoetopsis within the Astereae and Gnaphalieae has also been suggested. Centipeda is a genus of five species inhabiting Australia, South America, and New Zealand. Although traditionally a member of the informal group 'Cotuleae' in the Anthemideae, recent workers have considered it to be in Astereae or Gnaphalieae. Detailed morphological studies support neither of these placements and hence it is currently unassigned. Molecular data does not support the inclusion of the three genera in Gnaphalieae, instead there is general agreement between the tribal placement of these genera based on our molecular analysis and certain morphological and secondary chemical characters.

Key words: Asteraceae, Centipeda, Cratystylis, Gnaphalieae, Isoetopsis, phylogeny