Morphological evolution and ecological diversification of the forest-dwelling poppies (Papaveraceae : Chelidonioideae) as deduced from a molecular phylogeny of the ITS region

Sequences of the ITS region of nrDNA were analyzed for the seven genera of Papaveraceae subf. Chelidonioideae s.str. Three major clades can be recogni zed. These are 1. Chelidonium/Hylomecon/Stylophorum, 2. Eomecon/Sanguinaria , and 3. Bocconia/Macleaya. The monophyly of genera in the first of these t hree clades is doubtful, and clades two and three are sister to each other. Use of the ITS phylogeny of the subfamily to trace its morphological and e cological evolution shows that morphological change is concentrated in the Bocconia/Macleaya clade, and probably related to the evolution of wind-poll ination from insect-pollination in these two genera after habitat shift.