Late Quaternary history ofHippophaë rhamnoidesL. (Elaeagnaceae) inferred from chalcone synthase intron (Chsi) sequences and chloroplast DNA variation

Fossil pollen records indicate that Hippophae rhamnoides (Sea Buckthorn) was widespread on late- and early postglacial raw soils throughout much of central and northern Europe, but that Early Holocene reforestation restricted populations to northern coastal habitats, or along mountain streams in the Alps, Pyrenees, and Carpathians. We used sequence variation at the nuclear chalcone synthase intron ( Chsi ), in conjunction with chloroplast DNA–restriction fragment length polymorphism data, to investigate the intraspecific phylogeny, phylogeographic structure, and expansion demographic history of this dioecious and wind-pollinated shrub at its range-wide scale in Europe and Asia Minor. Four m…