Entada from the Ryukyu Islands

Abstract

The genus Entada (Leguminosae; Mimosoideae) in the Ryukyu Islands was studied based on number of leaflets, seed morphology and SSCP analysis of chloroplast DNA (rps16 intron). Morphological and molecular data indicated that the Entada in Okinawa Isl. and Yaeyama Isls. was distinctly separated from that in Yaku and Amami-Oshima Islands. We made a deduction that the former having small and convex seeds with angular margin was E. koshunensis, while the latter having large and compressed seeds with rounded margin and symapomorphic insertion (7bp) in the rps16 was E. phaseoloides.