Morphological and Biochemical-based Phylogenetic Analyses of Opuntiae Prickly Pear Cacti of Southern California

Phylogenetic analyses are used to suggest phylogenetic relationships for series Opuntiae (genus Opuntia, subgenus Opuntia) present in Southern California. The bases of the analyses were electrophoretic characters utilizing allelic band data obtained from electrophoretic assays conducted in this study and morphological and chromatographical characters compiled from data in existing literature. Cladograms produced from the different data bases yielded similar relationships. The electrophoretic-based cladogram provided the strongest support for Benson\u27s (1982) classification with the o. littoralis complex represented as a monophyletic group, unlike the morphological and chromatographic-based cladograms. Placements of hybrids Occidentalis C and Occidentalis D were also considered. [Key Words: Cactaceae, Opuntia, Opuntiae, prickly pears, electrophoresis, morphology, chromatography, phylogenetic analysis