• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.185-196
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• 2012

Morphological and geographical examinations as well as phylogenetic analyses using ITS sequences were performed for Asparagus L. in Korea. A total of five species of Asparagus were confirmed to be distributed in South Korea. The shape of cladophylls, length of pedicels, and shape of perianth were considered to be important characteristics for the identification of Koran Asparagus species. A monophyly of each species was evident in the ITS phylogenetic trees in which multiple accessions (5 to 24, depending on species) represented each of the five Korean species. A. rigidulus Nakai, once considered conspecific to A. schoberioides Kunth, formed a distinct lineage in the ITS trees. Pedicels of A. rigidulus, which is distributed mainly in coastal areas, were about two times longer than those of A. schoberioides occurring in inland areas, suggesting that they should be treated as distinct taxa.