HAUK, WARREN D. Department of Biology, Denison University, Granville, OH 43055. - Phylogeny of the Ophioglossaceae based on molecular and morphological characters.
Phylogenetic relationships among genera of the Ophioglossaceae are
controversial because morphological/anatomical features have been
interpreted differently by various researchers. To construct a
phylogeny of the family, I sequenced the protein encoding gene
rbcL and the non-coding spacer region trnL-F from
approximately 40 species representing the range of diversity of the
family. In addition, I analyzed cladistically morphological/anatomical
characters from the same taxa to provide an independent comparison to
the molecular phylogeny. All three data sets supported two major
clades within the family, an ophioglossoid lineage and a botrychioid
lineage. Helminthostachys is sister to a monophyletic
Botrychium s.l., in which Botrychium s.s. is sister to
Sceptridium, and Botrypus is paraphyletic. Though
relationships within Ophioglossum s.l. were not well resolved,
Cheiroglossa and Ophioderma appear to be sister taxa,
and Ophioglossum s.s. may be paraphyletic.
Key words: Botrychium, Helminthostachys, Ophioglossaceae, Ophioglossum, phylogeny