The complete chloroplast genome sequences of two ornamental Epimedium species (Berberidaceae)

Both Epimedium sutchuenense Franch. 1894 and E. fargesii Franch. 1894 are perennial herbs with excellent ornamental values due to their showy flowers. However, little molecular research has been done on these species. Here, the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of E. sutchuenense and E. fargesii was analyzed and reported. The cp genome sizes of E. sutchuenense and E. fargesii were 157, 263 and 157, 133 bp, respectively. Both the two cp genomes contained a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRs) (25,782 and 25,796 bp), separated by the small single-copy (SSC) region (17,106 and 17,071 bp) and a large single-copy (LSC) region (88,593 and 88,470 bp). A total of 113 unique genes were annotated in each of the two cp genomes, including 79 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis supported a close relationship between E. sutchuenense and E. wushanense, while E. fargesii had no clear clustering branch.