Aim We hypothesize that molecular signals in Eurasian steppe plants reflect their biogeographical history as well as the climate/landscape history of the Eurasian steppe. To test this hypothesis we focus here on the characteristic Eurasian steppe genera Dontostemon and Clausia (Brassicaceae), and have included all presently accepted species in our study. Location Eurasian steppe from eastern Asia to south‐eastern Europe. Metho...

To elucidate the evolutionary history of the genus Capsella , we included the hitherto poorly known species C. orientalis and C. thracica into our studies together with C. grandiflora , C. rubella and C. bursa‐pastoris . We sequenced the ITS and four loci of noncoding cpDNA regions ( trn L – F, rps 16, trn H – psb A and trn Q – rps 16). Sequence data were evaluated with parsimony and Bayesian analyses. Divergence time estimate...

Apart from the common floral architecture in Brassicaceae, variation in flower morphology occurs in several genera within the family and is considered to affect speciation processes. We analysed genetic differentiation and flowering time variation of two floral variants of Capsella bursa‐pastoris , the Spe variant and the wild‐type, which occur sympatrically in a vineyard in southwest Germany. The Spe variant is characterized...

We performed demographic and molecular investigations on woodland populations of the clonal herb Viola riviniana in central Germany. We investigated the pattern of seedling recruitment, the amount of genotypic (clonal) variation and the partitioning of genetic variation among and within populations. Our demographic study was carried out in six violet populations of different ages and habitat conditions. It revealed that repeat...