The application of molecular techniques is rapidly transforming the study of plant systematics. The precision they offer enables researchers to classify plants that have not been subject to rigorous classification before and thus allows them to obtain a clearer picture of evolutionary relationships. Plant Molecular Systematics is arranged both conceptually and phylogenetically to accommodate the interests not only of general systematists, but also those of people interested in a particular plant family. The first part discusses molecular sequencing; the second reviews restriction site analysis and the sequencing of mitochondrial DNA. A third section details the analysis of ribosomal DNA and chloroplast DNA. The following section introduces model studies involving well-studied families such as the Onagraceae, Compositae and Leguminosae. The book concludes with a section addressing theoretical topics such as data analysis and the question of morphological vs. molecular data.

1. Chloroplast DNA and the Study of Plant Phylogeny: Present Status and Future Prospects.- 2. Use of Chloroplast DNA Rearrangements in Reconstructing Plant Phylogeny.- 3. Mitochondrial DNA in Plant Systematics: Applications and Limitations.- 4. Ribosomal RNA as a Phylogenetic Tool in Plant Systematics.- 5. Evolution of the Nor and 5SDna Loci in the Triticeae.- 6. Intraspecific Chloroplast DNA Variation: Systematic and Phylogenetic Implications.- 7. Molecular Evidence and Plant Introgression.- 8. Molecular Data and Polypoid Evolution in Plants.- 9. Molecular Systematics and Crop Evolution.- 10. Contributions of Molecular Data to Papilionoid Legume Systematics.- 11. Chloroplast DNA Variation in the Asteraceae: Phylogenetic and Evolutionary Implications.- 12. Chloroplast DNA Restriction Site Variation and the Evolution of the Annual Habit in North American Coreopsis (Asteraceae).- 13. Molecular Systematics of Onagraceae: Examples from Clarkia and Fuchsia.- 14. Floral Morphology and Chromosome Number in Subtribe Oncidiinae (Orchidaceae): Evolutionary Insights From a Phylogenetic Analysis of Chloroplast DNA Restriction Site Variation.- 15. The Suitability of Molecular and Morphological Evidence in Reconstructing Plant Phylogeny.- 16. Character-State Weighting for Restriction Site Data in Phylogenetic Reconstruction, with an Example from Chloroplast DNA.- 17. Polymorphism, Hybridization, and Variable Evolutionary Rate in Molecular Phylogenies.