A molecular survey concerning the origin of Cyperus esculentus (Cyperaceae, Poales): two sides of the same coin (weed vs. crop)

Abstract

The molecular analysis provides novel insights into the evolutionary history of C. esculentus. The results have various taxonomic and phylogenetic implications, including a hypothesis on the origin and phylogeography of this species, which probably originated in the late Cenozoic in Africa, and reached the Americas repeatedly, independently of Columbian exchanges.