ibclogo XVI International Botanical Congess

Abstract Number: 3443
Session = 7.8.3


FLORISTIC RELATIONSHIPS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA BASED ON DNA AND MORPHOLOGICAL DATA FROM CYATHEA (ALSOPHILA), WITH EMPHASIS ON DIVERSIFICATION OF THE GENUS ON MOUNT KINABALU AND IN NEW GUINEA


D.S. CONANT* AND D.B. STEIN#, *DEPT. OF NAT. SCI., LYNDON STATE COLL., LYNDONVILLE,VT 05851 USA AND #DEPT. OF BIOL. SCI., MT. HOLYOKE COLL., S. HADLEY, MA 01075 USA


cpDNA restriction site analyses of the Cyatheaceae support the existence of three main groups: the Alsophila, Cyathea, and Sphaeropteris clades. The tree ferns of Mt. Kinabalu belong to either the Alsophila or the Sphaeropteris clade. Five species of Alsophila, one endemic to Mt. Kinabalu, were included in a phylogenetic analysis together with a wide selection of other paleotropical and neotropical taxa. We examined molecular and morphological data to evaluate the hypothesis that the progenitor of the Kinabalu high elevation serpentine endemic Alsophila havilandii is one of three more common lower elevation taxa related to a group of species from New Guinea.

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