Dh. Les et al., SYSTEMATICS OF THE LEMNACEAE (DUCKWEEDS) - INFERENCES FROM MICROMOLECULAR AND MORPHOLOGICAL DATA, Plant systematics and evolution, 204(3-4), 1997, pp. 161-177
Diminutive plants of the duckweed family have been difficult to study
systematically because of reduction and character state losses that ha
ve accompanied their adaptation to aquatic habitats. Phylogenetic anal
ysis of flavonoid and anatomical-morphological data indicate that evol
ution in the family has proceeded in a linear manner from complex ance
stors to reduced species of subfam. Wolffioideae. The high probability
of convergence for character reduction and loss, however, renders thi
s conclusion tentative. Cladograms from combined data require only a s
light increase in length to resolve all four genera as monophyletic. T
hese studies indicate the need for more suitable data to evaluate hypo
theses of duckweed relationships.