CHLOROPLAST DNA VARIATION IN DESMODIUM SUBGENUS PODOCARPIUM (LEGUMINOSAE) - INFRAGENERIC PHYLOGENY AND INFRASPECIFIC VARIATIONS

Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) restriction site variation was examined in fiv e species of Desmodium subgenus Podocarpium (Leguminosae; Papilionoide ae; Desmodieae). Twenty four phylogenetically informative cpDNA mutati ons were scored. The cladistic analysis of characters based on the 24 mutations resulted in the most parsimonious tree which supports the mo nophyly of the subgenus. Desmodium elegans of subgenus Dollinera was t he sister group of subgenus Podocarpium in this tree. The groupings ob tained from the cpDNA characters were consistent with the present infr ageneric classification system for the subgenus except for the infrasp ecific taxa of D. podocarpum. Three groups within D. podocarpum, which were incongruent with the infraspecific classification of the species , were distinguished by a total of four site mutations. The first grou p consisted of subsp. podocarpum, subsp. fallax, and subsp. oxyphyllum var. oxyphyllum; the second subsp. oxyphyllum var, oxyphyllum; and th e last subsp. oxyphyllum var. oxyphyllum and var. mandshuricum.