Although polyploidy is a fairly rare phenomenon in Silene (Caryophyllaceae), most of the North American and some Central Asian taxa are found to be polyploid. The origin(s) and evolution of some of these polyploid Silene are investigated using rDNA (ITS1, 5.8S, ITS2), intron sequences from the second largest subunits (RPA2, RPB2, and RPD2) in the RNA polymerase gene family, and cpDNA (rps16). The utility of the different data sets are also discussed.

Key words: Caryophyllaceae, polyploidy, Silene