Angiosperm Phylogeny Studied Using Sequences of Five Macromolecules

Summary Phylogenetic trees for 11 angiosperm families have been constructed using data from 106 macro‐molecular sequences, 12 of them new and the rest from published sequences of cytochrome c, plastocyanin, ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase small subunit, ferredoxin and 5S‐ribosomal‐RNA. Analyses of data from single macromolecules are not consistent with one another but, for nine families, a phylogenetic tree derived from three macromolecules remains consistent as a fourth macromolecule is added. This nine‐family tree is thought to be reliable. The positions of the other two families, Malvaceae and Ranunculaceae, remain uncertain. A relationship between Chenopodiaceae and Polygonaceae confirms other taxonomic work but an equally reliable and close relationship between Fabaceae and Brassicaceae merits further taxonomic investigation.