What are phylogenetic relationships?
In essence, the ancestor-descendant relationships of groups of organisms. Phylogenetic relationships are similar in concept to genealogical relationships, in that they are the relationships that exist among organisms as a consequence of their ancestor-descendant relationships. In practice, however, we use the term phylogenetic relationships when we are considering relationships among groups of organisms, and genealogical relationships when we are thinking of individuals, particularly human individuals. There are, of course, a few small problems in trying to determine phylogenetic relationships among plants. For instance, plants do not keep genealogical records. We have to infer their genealogy from the variation we observe. We need to appreciate, however, that many plants have amazing reproductive versatility. Many can reproduce both asexually and sexually; the seeds developing in a single fruit may have more than one paternal parent; hybridization is not uncommon; polyploidy is normal
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