The Bayesian consensus tree of Theligonum and Kelloggia and related taxa from Rubieae and Putorieae based on five plastid sequences (rbcL, rps16, trnT-F, atpB-rbcL and psbA-trnH). The Bayesian posterior probabilities are shown above the branches and the MP/ML bootstrap values below.

... topologies from the maximum parsimony, Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood analyses were congruent, but varied in the level of support for some nodes (Fig. 1). Within Kelloggia, the sister position of K. chinensis and K. galioides was well supported (BP = 93; PP = 1.00; BS = 100). Theligonum was found to be monophyletic (BP = 100; PP = 1.00; BS = 100), with a basal dichotomy into two major clades (Mediterranean, i.e. T. cynocrambe, and the eastern Asian clade), each with high support (BP = ...

... (Mediterranean, i.e. T. cynocrambe, and the eastern Asian clade), each with high support (BP = 100; PP = 1.00; BS = 100). In the eastern Asian clade, the Taiwan endemic T. formosamum was sister to the other two species. The latter species, T. macranthum from central China and T. japonicum from eastern China and Japan formed a distinct group (Fig. 1). Divergence time analyses. The BEAST analysis generated a well-resolved tree for Theligonum and Kelloggia, the topology of which is consistent with the topologies from the MP and Bayesian analyses (Fig. 2). The uncorrelated-rates relaxed molecular clock suggested an origin of the Theligonum stem lineage in the late Eocene (35.57 ...