However, recent molecular research indicates that the family Scrophulariaceae was polyphyletic,[3] meaning that it contained more than one lineage with different parents.

It started to cool down during the Late Miocene and Pliocene to a more temperate climate which was similar to that of central Chile.

This may have allowed the South American elements of the Jovellana genus to establish their characteristics by long distance dispersal.

They have simple leaves and, in summer, nodding sprays of single, two-lipped, bell-shaped flowers in shades of white, lilac and purple, heavily spotted with a contrasting colour inside.

Fuchsia is another genus with species apparently randomly segregated between Central and South America, New Zealand and Tahiti.