Two Species of Entada in Japan as Evidenced by cpDNA Phylogeny

摘要

The phylogenetic relationships of Entada (Fabaceac) were examined to determine if two distinct species occur in Japan. Nucleotide sequences of the trnK and trnL introns and the intergenic spacer of trnL-trnF of cpDNA resolved 19 haplotypes among 39 widely collected samples of E. phaseoloides-like plants. In the resultant tree, two distinct clades corresponded to two groups also distinguished by diagnostic seed characters. The clades agree with the expected chorology of samples and with the diagnostic morphology from previous taxonomic work. One clade corresponds to Entada phaseoloides and the other to E. tonkinensis. A distinctive concentration of haplotypes was observed. Although seeds of Entada phaseoloides are renowned as sea drift seeds, our results do not suggest frequent gene flow caused by long distance seed dispersal.