Abstract: The molecular phylogeny of the Pinaceae represented by nine species of eight genera was investigated through PCR-RFLP analysis of a cpDNA fragment, which was approximately 2550 bp long and homologous with the DNA fragment from the upstream of rbcL to part of accD in cpDNA of Pinus thunbergii. Identified by 18 restriction endonucleases were 86 recognition sites, of which 54 were polymorphic. The restriction site data were analyzed with PAUP (version 3.1.1 ) and Mega (version 1.01). As a result, the most parsimonious Wagner tree constructed by branch-and-bound search is similar to the neighbor-joining tree in topology. Cathaya, Pinus, Larix and Pseudotsuga form a monophyletic group, and Larix is closely related to Pseudotsuga. Cathaya is more closely related to Pinus than to Pseudotsuga and Larix, but the close relationship between Cathaya and Pinus is not well supported by the bootstrap test. Abies has a close relationship to Keteleeria. Moreover, the system proposed by Zheng and Fu (1978) that the family Pinaceae was divided into three subfamilies, i.e., Abietoideae, Laricoideae and Pinoideae, is artificial, because the former two are not monophyletic.

Key words: Molecular phylogeny, RFLP, rbcL gene, Pinaceae, Cathaya