Flavonoids and phylogenetic reconstruction

Flavonoids have been used successfully for interpreting evolutionary relationships in many groups of angiosperms. These interpretations often have been presented in narrative fashion without specific indications of the kinds of relationships expressed. In this paper a method of phylogeny reconstruction with flavonoid data showing cladistic, patristic, and phenetic relationships is presented. Such a phylogram contains maximal information about flavonoid evolution. As an example, relationships in the North American species ofCoreopsis (Compositae), containing 46 species in 11 sections, are analyzed by this approach. A phylogeny of sections of the genus from previous morphological, chromosomal and hybridization data is compared with that from data on anthochlors (chalcones and aurones). Strong correspondence of these evolutionary interpretations gives support to the hypothesized evolutionary trends within the group.