BACKGROUND During adaptive radiation events, characters can arise multiple times due to parallel evolution, but transfer of traits through hybridization provides an alternative explanation for the same character appearing in apparently non-sister lineages. The signature of hybridization can be detected in incongruence between phylogenies derived from different markers, or from the presence of t...

Polygonum capitatum (Polygonaceae) exists in rural areas of Southwest China and some other Asian countries. Its aerial part or whole herbal plant has been used as a Miao ethnomedicine against urinary system diseases, infections, pyelonephritis, diarrhea, so on. The progress phytochemical research on P. over the past decades is summarized. Two hundred three chemical constituents that have isolat...

Calligonum is the only C4 genus within Polygonaceae. We applied DNA sequences from nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (nrITS) and five plastid genome regions (psbA-trnH, ycf6-psbM, trnL-F, rpl32-trnL rbcL) to reconstruct phylogeny of Calligonum. The nrITS combined were analysed separately. supports treatment mongolicum complex as a single species with intra-specific geographic struct...