Yucca L. (the Desert Soaptree, Agavaceae) consists of 45 perennial species distributed primarily in the deserts of Mexico and the United States. Although severa! taxonomic treatments of yuccas exist; the-phylogeny of the group is poorly known. It is unclear which taxa retain primitive characters and how characters have evolved. In addition, relationships oftaxa within the genus are uncertain. We compare our phylogeny based upon reproductive characters with a chloroplast phylogeny (Hanson and Rieseberg, 1991 ;Hanson, 1993) and with data from the ITS region of the nuclear genome (Bogler, this volume). The molecular analyses of the chloroplast genome by Hanson and Rieseberg (1991) led to a phylogeny on ly partially congruent with the traditional morphology-based phylogeny (McKelvey, 1938(McKelvey, , 1947 because the cpDNA analysis indicated that chloroplast capture among distantly related, sympatric/parapatric species has been a factor in the evo lution of the group. Our results indicate that Yucca in the traditional sen se is paraphyletic, that sect. Chaenocarpa is more basal than sect. Yucca ( =Sarcocarpa), and that Yucca (=Hesperoyucca) whipplei falls outside of Yucca.Resumen. Yucca L. (Agavaceae) se compone de 45 especies perennes distribuidas principalmente en los desiertos de México y los Estados Unidos. Aunque existen varios tratamientos taxonómicos de Yucca, la filogenia del género es aún poco conocida. No está claro qué taxa retienen caracteres primitivos y cómo han evolucionado los caracteres . Además, las relaciones entre los taxa del genero son inciertas. En éste artículo, comparamos la filogenia basada en caracteres reproductivos con una filogenia del ADN del cloroplasto (cpADN) (Hanson y Rieseberg, 1991; Hanson, 1993) y con los datos de la region ITS del genoma nuclear (Bogler, este volumen) . Los análisis moleculares del genoma del cloroplasto (Hanson y Rieseberg, 1991) produjeron una filogenia solo parcialmente congruente con la filogenia tradicional basada en morfología (McKelvey, 1938(McKelvey, , 1947 porque la filogenia basada en cpADN indica que la captura del cloroplasto entre especies genéticamente distantes (simpátricas o parapátricas) ha influido en Ja evolución del grupo. Nuestros resultados indican que Yucca tal como se conoce tradicionalmente es parafilética, y que la seccción Chaenocarpa es más basal que la sección Yucca ( =Sarcocarpa), y que Yucca ( = Hesperoyucca) whipplei se enc uentra fuera de los límites del genero Yucca. ________________________ Clary KH, Simpson BB. 1995. Systematics and character evolution of the genus Yucca (Agavaceae): Evidence from morphology and molecular analyses. Boletín de la Sociedad Botánica de México 56: 77-88.
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