Abstract
Abstract We evaluated Rhododendron species sampling from museums using DNA barcodes of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. Ten species of Tsutsusi section in Taiwan, namely Rhododendron oldhamii , Rhododendron nakaharai , Rhododendron taiwanalpinum , Rhododendron simsii , Rhododendron lasiostylum , Rhododendron rubropilosum , Rhododendron breviperulatum , Rhododendron kanehirai , Rhododendron noriakianum and Rhododendron longiperulatum , could not be discriminated from each other. Within the Ponticum section, five Rhododendron species formed two clusters, namely Rhododendron formosanum and the Maculifera + Pontica subsections. Within the Maculifera + Pontica subsection cluster, Rhododendron morri , Rhododendron hyperythrum , Rhododendron rubropunctatum , and Rhododendron pseudochrysanthum were included and could not be molecularly discriminated from each other. In addition, the other accessions belonging to five Rhododendron species, including Rhododendron mariesii , Rhododendron lamprophyllum , Rhododendron ovatum , Rhododendron ellipticum , and Rhododendron kawakamii , could be discriminated based on ITS data. In short, DNA barcodes from ITS sequences can reveal high levels of morphological plasticity for Rhododendron species.
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