Data from: A worldwide molecular phylogeny provides new insight on cryptic diversity within the moonworts (Botrychium s. s., Ophioglossaceae)

The moonwort genus, Botrychium s. s., includes diploid and polyploid taxa
that occur primarily in the northern hemisphere. Their evolutionary
history, morphologically cryptic taxa and deep divergence of the family in
the phylogeny of ferns has long fascinated pteridologists. Previous
molecular studies did not include a complete taxonomic sampling of the
taxa in the genus, nor multiple specimens from throughout the known
geographical range of each taxon. Therefore, to investigate evolutionary
relationships of the major clades of Botrychium s. s., we increased both
taxonomic representativeness (multiple accessions per taxa), as well as
phylogenetic resolution by including additional new chloroplast markers.
To confirm identification and provide evidence from both maternal and
paternal parentage of allopolyploids, we also included specimens that have
been characterized by allozyme profiles determined by electrophoretic
analysis of 20 nuclear enzyme loci for each taxon. We analyzed four
chloroplast regions (matK intron, trnHGUG —psbA, andtrnLUAA —trnFGAA
intergenic spacers, and rpL16 intron region) of 365 specimens fromAsia,
Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America, sampling the
geographical range of 34 of 35 accepted Botrychium s. s. taxa and thirteen
putatively new taxa. We conducted a phylogenetic analysis of maternal
lineages based on 2,385 aligned nucleotides using maximum likelihood and
Bayesian inference to explore genetic diversity and phylogenetic
relationships among taxa. We found strong support for themonophyly of
three major clades: Lanceolatum, Lunaria, and Simplex-Campestre, and
resolved 15 subclades. Our results suggest multiple origins for at least
four polyploid taxa (B. boreale, B. michiganense, B. yaaxudakeit, and B.
watertonense). The Simplex-Campestre clade had the largest number of
species, despite having a similar total number of haplotypes as the
Lunaria clade (62 and 59, respectively), which has the broadest worldwide
distribution. In total, our new molecular phylogeny comprises 47 taxa, of
which thirteen are discussed for possible taxonomic recognition.