Relationships among species in Carex sect. Phyllostachys (Cyperaceae) based on allozyme divergence

Allozyme variation was examined in Carer sect. Phyllostachys (Cyperaceae) to provide insight into phylogenetic relationships hypothesized in an earlier study and to determine the degree of genetic differentiation within and between taxa. Genetic identity values are concordant with the morphological differences found between species. The lowest values are found between species with the greatest morphological dissimilarity. Conversely, the highest values are associated with species pairs distinguished by relatively few morphological differences. Conspecific populations possess high genetic identities, although interpopulation differentiation has characterized the evolutionary history of some species. Geographic patterning is also evident within species, with geographically proximate populations often having the highest identity values. Phylogenetic trees produced using different cladistic methods were poorly supported and varied in their depiction of relationships among species. One cladogram produced using presence/absence allelic data is more or less congruent with a topology recovered from an earlier analysis utilizing molecular and morphological data. The wide- and narrow-scaled clades are maintained as are the sister species pairs C. backii/C. saximontana, C. basiantha/C. superata, and C, jamesii/C, juniperorum. Contrary to the finding of our previous study, however, C. willdenowii is aligned with C. jamesii/C. juniperorum.