Aim To reconstruct the diversification history of Rhododendron sect. Brachycalyx (Ericaceae), and to elucidate the differences in evolutionary history between 18 insular and two continental species. Location Islands of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan and the mainland of China in East Asia. Methods Sequences of seven non‐coding chloroplast DNA regions (3971 bp) were obtained from 74 populations covering all 20 species in Rhododen...

Aim The origin of Neotropical hyperdiversity is one of the most intriguing questions in modern biogeography and is best answered through the investigation of large, pantropically distributed genera, allowing the comparison of closely related clades in different regions. We produced a dated phylogeny and reconstructed ancestral ranges of the megadiverse, Andean‐centred genus Begonia to discern its dispersal history throughout t...

Aim Phylogeographical patterns in the Ryukyu Archipelago have been explained primarily by landbridge formation and the opening of two straits in the Pliocene, namely the Tokara and Kerama gaps. These old straits have been considered to be the barriers most likely to determine genetic boundaries. To test this, we conducted a molecular analysis of the herb Ophiorrhiza japonica . We discuss the causes of and processes involved in...