getDescendants returns the set of node & tip numbers descended from node.
getParent returns the single parent node of a specified node number (or NULL if node is already the root).
getDescendants(tree, node, curr=NULL)
getParent(tree, node)a phylogenetic tree as an object of class "phylo".
an integer specifying a node number in the tree.
the set of previously stored node numbers - used in recursive function calls.
The set of node and tip numbers for the nodes and tips descended from node in a vector, or for getParent the single node preceding node in the tree.
Revell, L. J. (2012) phytools: An R package for phylogenetic comparative biology (and other things). Methods Ecol. Evol., 3, 217-223.