EN
Separate and combined analyses of nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and cpDNA rpsl6 provided phylogenetic hypotheses and molecular data for the taxonomy of Chinese Bupleurum species. The phylogenetic results derived from Bayesian and maximum parsimony analyses supported the monophyly of the Bupleurum with strong evidence. The origin of Chinese Bupleurum is likely to be through the Middle East and the Caucasus from the Mediterranean region with the basic chromosome number (8->7->6), and polyploidization. Our molecular data are not consistent with other earlier Chinese Bupleurum classifications and are consistent with the molecular classification proposed by Neves and Watson. The analyses also provide molecular data to elucidate the taxonomic treatments for Bupleurum falcatum from China and Europe.