Relationships of the Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis) and a molecular phylogeny of the Araucariaceae

Relationships of the Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis) and a molecular phylogeny of the Araucariaceae.Telopea 7(3): 275-291.Sequences were obtained for the rbcL gene from chloroplast DNA of the newly discovered Australian conifer Wollemia nobilis (Araucariaceae), 5 species of Araucaria and 4 species of Agathis.Phylogenetic analysis of our new data and other available sequences indicate that 1) Araucariaceae is monophyletic; 2) Agathis and Araucaria are both monophyletic; 3) Wollemia is the sister group to Agathis; 4) the Pinaceae are the sister group to all other conifers, although the monophyly of the conifers is not unequivocally demonstrated.The utility of rbcL for deriving a robust phylogeny of the Araucariaceae and of the conifers is discussed.* sens.lat., including Taxodiaceae # including Taxodiaceae and Sciadopitys + this analysis shows Taxaceae to be paraphyletic, although no clear resolution is evident at this node