Plant evolution by means of hybridization

Hybridization in plants has been shown to be one of the most creative forces for the evolution of earth's biodiversity. In this review, the historical development of hybrid research is outlined, followed by a discussion and rebuttal of traditional assumptions of hybrid evolution like reduced fitness, rarity, intermediate character inheritance etc. The potential of hybridization for plant evolution is presented and factors for and effects of reticulate evolution are examined. Four topics are then focused on current that are underrepresented in the those discussion, but which look promising for future research: (1) Biosymmetry, a new concept of 'masked asymmetry'; (2) unequal ancient splits and macroevolutionary hypercycles; (3) genome evolution; and (4) phylogenetic reconstruction in mixed species. In a short overview, draft examples are highlighted, which support the view that 'Hybridization is important, because life on earth is predominantly a hybrid plant phenomenon'.