A molecular phylogeny of the Old World cypresses (Cupressus: Cupressaceae): evidence from nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequences

Abstract

Studies of phylogenetic relationships among cypresses of the Old World (Cupressus; Cupressaceae) have been plagued by unresolved relationships, poor branch support, and conflict between data sets and methods of analysis. In this study, we combined 5.4 kb of aligned DNA sequence and 157 binary characters with previously published data in examining phylogenetic relationships among Cupressus species. Bayesian and parsimony analysis of the combined data or of the nuclear data alone always recovered three principal clades of Cupressus; however, tests of phylogenetic incongruence could not distinguish between competing relationships among the three principal Cupressus lineages. In contrast, incongruence tests often found statistically significant conflict between the nuclear and plastid data, particularly with respect to the placement of C. chengiana. Consistent with previous studies and prevailing taxonomic opinion, we find C. darjeelingensis more closely related to cypresses of the New World (Hesperocyparis). In contrast, we placed accessions of C. assamica and C. tonkinensis, two putatively Old World species suggested to be misidentified New World taxa by some authors, within well-supported Old World clades. Statistical analysis of genetic distances suggests instances in which taxa recognized as distinct species by some authors are identical or nearly so and may best be considered a single taxon. Conversely, we identify instances in which infraspecific taxa are more distantly related to one another than those traditionally recognized as distinct species. Factors confounding cypress taxonomies, including poor morphological differentiation, misidentification, and the use of accessions of questionable provenance, are discussed.