2006 Volume 100 Pages 15-30
The controversy of whether the paleoaustral genus Acrocladium Mitt. consists of one or two species is discussed. In a molecular analysis using the trnL intron and the rps4 gene of the cpDNA, the ITS 1 & 2 of the nrDNA as well as the nuclear adk gene, clear evidence was found for the existence of two genetically distinct taxa, a Chilean-Argentinian species, A. auriculatum (Mont.) Mitt. and a New Zealand-Australian species, A. chlamydophyllum (Hook. f. & Wils.) Broth. It is supposed that both species are derived from a common ancestor before the break-up of Gondwana, as the observed genetic distance is in sharp contrast to rather recent long distance dispersal events.