Abstract: Chimonanthus praecox (L.) Link is a widely cultivated endemic winter-flowering plant in China that has a long cultivation history. Genetic diversity and genetic structure were compared between wild and cultivated groups to reveal the geographic origin of the cultivated genotypes using chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) sequences and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. Nine haplotypes were identified using three combined chloroplast fragments. Based on chloroplast data, the wild group showed greater genetic variation and genetic differentiation and a lower measure of gene flow compared to the cultivated group. The AFLP markers also supported this trend. More than 40% of the cpDNA haplotypes were shared between wild and cultivated groups, with shared haplotypes originating from multiple wild populations, suggesting multiple origins of cultivated plants. Moreover, principal coordinate analysis, UPGMA, and structure analysis of AFLP markers revealed that two wild populations clustered with most of the cultivated populations of Ch. praecox, suggesting that most of the cultivated populations mainly originated from these two populations. The combined cpDNA and AFLP results indicated that modern cultivated Ch. praecox experienced multiple events of origin involving two geographic origins, eastern China (Tianmu Mountain) and southwestern China (the border of Hunan–Guangxi–Sichuan–Guizhou).

Key words: AFLP, Chimonanthus praecox, cpDNA, domestication, geographic origin.