• Journal of Species Research
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.258-265
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• 2023

We conducted phylogenetic analyses using multiplexed inter-simple sequence repeat genotyping by sequencing and compared chloroplast DNA sequences among Ardisia japonica, A. pusilla, and morphologically intermediate plants found on Jeju Island, Korea. Our network analysis demonstrated that the intermediate plants were genetically positioned between A. japonica and A. pusilla. Our comparison of the intergenic spacer between the psbA and trnH genes in chloroplast DNA indicated that four nucleotide substitutions separate A. japonica and A. pusilla, whereas the intermediate plants exhibited the A. japonica haplotype. Our results suggest that the intermediate plants on Jeju Island represent a natural hybrid of A. japonica, as the maternal species, and A. pusilla, and that they are attributable to Ardisia×walkeri. This record constitutes the first documented occurrence of the hybrid taxon in Korea.