Molecular Evidence on the Origin of Osmunda Xmildei (Osmundaceae).

The southern Chinese Osmunda Xmildei has been suggested to be an intersubgeneric hybrid, i.e., O. japonica (subgenus Osmunda) X O. angustifolia (subgenus Plenasium) or O. japonica X O. vacheUii (subgenus Plenasium). These interpretations were based on morphological, cytological, and/or chloroplast DNA data, yet the parents of the hybrid remained unclear. Molecular phylogenetic relationships inferred here from chloroplast rbcL sequences and three nuclear DNA markers show that O. Xmildei is most likely a hybrid between the paternal O. japonica and the maternal O. vacheUii [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]