Cryptic species are frequently recovered in plant lineages, and considered an important cause for divergent of morphological disparity and species diversity. The identification of cryptic species has important implications for the assessment of conservation needs of species aggregates. The mechanisms and processes of the origin of cryptic species diversity are still poorly understand based on t...

The identity of Ceropegia hirsuta in Thailand has been questioned. Although this plant is quite similar to the original C. from India, being entirely hirsute, with yellowish-shaded flowers, a curved, funnel-shaped corolla tube, and broad lobes shorter than there are several clear differences morphological traits between materials collected type further specimens India. Moreover, s.s. restricted...

BACKGROUND Despite the availability of several studies to clarify taxonomic problems on the highly threatened yews of the Hindu Kush-Himalaya (HKH) and adjacent regions, the total number of species and their exact distribution ranges remains controversial. We explored the use of comprehensive sets of morphological, molecular and climatic data to clarify taxonomy and distributions of yews in thi...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The geographic distribution of the genus Plectocephalus comprises a single species in Ethiopia, two in North America and possibly four more in South America, in a striking disjunction that is exceptional for genera of the tribe Cardueae. The enormity of this disjunction cast doubts on the precise taxonomic delineation of the genus, which is not unanimously recognized as a na...

Arabis watsonii (P.H.Davis) F.K.Mey. was initially reported as Thlaspi watsonii P.H.Davis in Flora of Turkey. Although F.K.Meyer transferred this species to Arabis L., this species has been overlooked and treated as Thlaspi L. in relevant literature for Flora of Turkey. In this study this species was evaluated using molecular (nuclear ITS and plastidic trnL-F sequences) and morphological data. ...

The Malpighiaceae are a family of ∼1250 species of predominantly New World tropical flowering plants. Infrafamilial classification has long been based on fruit characters. Phylogenetic analyses of chloroplast DNA nucleotide sequences were analyzed to help resolve the phylogeny of Malpighiaceae. A total of 79 species, representing 58 of the 65 currently recognized genera, were studied. The 3' re...

Maianthemum (Ruscaceae) comprises 28-38 species and includes the two traditionally recognized genera: Maianthemum sensu stricto and Smilacina. Thirty-seven samples representing 22 species of Maianthemum and six closely related outgroup taxa were sequenced for eight chloroplast and nuclear markers (trnL-F, rps16, rpl16, psbA-trnH, rbcL, ndhF, trnK, and ITS) with a total length of nearly 10,000 b...

Tibetia and Gueldenstaedtia are two morphologically similar and small genera in Fabaceae, with distributions largely corresponding to the Sino-Himalayan and Sino-Japanese subkingdoms in eastern Asia, respectively. These two genera have confusing relationships based on morphology; therefore, we aimed to provide a clear understanding of their phylogenetic and biogeographic evolution within easter...