MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETIC STUDY ON DAVALLIACEAE

In previous classifications based on morphological characters, Davalliaceae comprises from four to ten genera, whose concepts differ among authors. This study analyzed a molecular phylogeny of 36 species in five genera. Deduced phylogenetic relationships based on a combined dataset of five continuous chloroplast regions, atpB, rbcL, accD, atpB-rbcL spacer, and rbcL-accD spacer, are incongruent to any previous classifications, and none of the genera are monophyletic. Araiostegia is divided to two clades, one of which is the most basal and includes Davallodes, and the other is nested within the rest of the family. Davallia is divided into three clades, in accordance with three sections classified mainly by scale morphologies, and the clades are separated by the intervention of a clade of Araiostegia, Humata and Scyphularia. Humata and Scyphularia are also paraphyletic.