Abstract Documenting species and population diversity is becoming increasingly important as the destruction degradation of natural ecosystems are leading to a worldwide biodiversity loss. Despite rapid development genetic tools, many remain undocumented little known about individuals populations, especially for tropical African plants. In this study, we aim identify putative hidden and/or diffe...

Our research brought together traditional aboriginal knowledge (TK) and scientific knowledge (SK) to explore the relationship between scientific and aboriginal systems of botanical classification and the corresponding valorization(s) of biological diversity in the Western Ghats of southern India. We worked with two aboriginal cultures namely 'Irulas' and 'Malasars' of the Nilgiri Biosphere Rese...

Based on two chloroplast DNA sequences, psbA-trnH and trnT-trnF, phylogeographical patterns of a desert shrub, Ephedra przewalskii, were examined across most of its geographic range in northwestern China. A total of sixteen haplotypes were detected. There was a common haplotype in each basin, that was haplotype A in Tarim Basin, haplotype G in Junggar Basin, and haplotype M in Qaidam Basin. Gen...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Solanum section Herpystichum is a lineage that comprises both widespread and very narrowly distributed species. This study investigates the phylogenetic relationships of sect. Herpystichum and evaluates several phylogenetic methods for analysis of multiple sequences. METHODS Sequence data from seven nuclear (ITS, GBSSI, and five COSII) and three plastid (psbA-trnH, trnT-t...

Diplostephium comprises 111 neotropical species that live in high elevation habitats from Costa Rica to Chile. Primarily Andean, the genus seems to have undergone an adaptive radiation indicated by its high number of species, broad morphological variation, and diversification primarily in an ecosystem (páramo) that formed within the last 2–5 my. Internal transcriber spacer (ITS) sequences and s...

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is one of the most important and expensive medicinal spice products in the world. Because of its high market value and premium price, saffron is often adulterated through the incorporation of other materials, such as Carthamus tinctorius L. and Calendula officinalis L. flowers, Hemerocallis L. petals, Daucus carota L. fleshy root, Curcuma longa L. rhizomes, Zea may L...

Absent in the wild, Tahitian vanilla (V. tahitensis) is a gourmet spice restricted in distribution to cultivated and feral stands in French Polynesia and Papua New Guinea. Its origins have been elusive. Our objective was to test the purported hybrid derivation and parentage of V. tahitensis from aromatic, neotropical progenitors. Nucleotide sequences from V. tahitensis and neotropical Vanilla w...

Carex aquatilis is a highly diverse and geographically widespread member of one of the largest genera of flowering plants, Carex, and is ideally suited for the study of the role of hybridization and niche partitioning in ecological speciation. Phylogenetic analyses of nuclear ITS and ETS 1f and chloroplast psbA-trnH DNA sequences support the monophyly of a broadly defined Carex aquatilis-Carex ...

We describe Triquetrella mxinwana, a new species presently known only from the winter rainfall area of South Africa. Within this region it is common in karroo and renosterveld, but it also occurs in fynbos. It differs from other Triquetrella species in the several low, bifid, papillae on each laminal cell, but is similar to the Australian Leptodontium paradoxum, differing in size and anatomical...

Oncidium is an important ornamental plant but the study of its functional genomics is difficult. Erycina pusilla is a fast-growing Oncidiinae species. Several characteristics including low chromosome number, small genome size, short growth period, and its ability to complete its life cycle in vitro make E. pusilla a good model candidate and parent for hybridization for orchids. Although genetic...