An assessment of the genetic population structure of two species of Polylepis Ruiz & Pav. (Rosaceae) in the Chilean Andes

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) was employed to test samples of Polylepis rugulosa Bitter and P. tarapacana Philippi for genetic structure correlated with geographic origin or morphology. In both species, it was impossible to find significantly supported groups of samples, and geography and morphological characters were mostly not correlated with genetic constitution. This lack of genetic structure is interpreted as indicative of a high amount of gene flow within and between populations of Polylepis.