Graduate student Warren Hauk, under the supervision of adviser Clifford Parks at the University of North Carolina, is developing molecular datasets to address fundamental phylogenetic problems surrounding the Ophioglossaceae, which is generally regarded as the most primitive of extant fern families. DNA sequencing of both a plastid and nuclear gene will be used to evaluate existing morphological analyses. Preliminary analyses demonstrated amounts of sequence divergence appropriate to address relationships not only among families and genera but also to the level of cryptis species, which many species in Botrychium subgenus Botrychium have been designated. Comparisons of plastid and nuclear genes will permit evaluation of the hybrid origin of putative allopolyploid species. Morphological and anatomical characters used in previous phylogenetic studies will be reanalyzed and compared to (and possibly combined with molecular trees.
