Polyphyly of the Padus group of Prunus (Rosaceae) and the evolution of biogeographic disjunctions between eastern Asia and eastern North America.

Prunus subgenus Padus is a group with a wide distribution in temperate eastern Asia and eastern North America with one species extending to Europe and one to Central America. Phylogenetic relationships of subgenus Padus were reconstructed using sequences of nuclear ribosomal ITS, and plastid ndhF gene, and rps16 intron and rpl16 intron. Prunus subgenus Padus is shown to be polyphyletic. Taxa of subgenus Padus and subgenus Laurocerasus are highly intermixed in both the ITS and the plastid trees. The results support two disjunctions between eastern North America and Eurasia within the Padus group. One disjunction is between Prunus virginiana of eastern North America and P. padus of Eurasia, estimated to have diverged at 2.99 (95 % HPD 0.59-6.15)-4.1 (95 % HPD 0.63-8.59) mya. The other disjunction is between P. serotina and its Asian relatives. The second disjunction may have occurred earlier than the former one, but the age estimate is difficult due to the unresolved phylogenetic position of the P. serotina complex.