Die Phloroglucide von Dryopteris caucasica (A. Br.) Fraser‐Jenkins et Corley

AbstractRhizomes of the recently rediscovered diploid fern Dryopteris caucasica were shown to contain the following phloroglucides: much filixic acid and para‐aspidin, appreciable amounts of desaspidin and traces of flavaspidic acid, trisdesaspidin and aspidinol (artefact), i.e. exactly the same compounds as recently found in D. villarii ssp. villarii. These results are compatible with the hypothesis that either D. caucasica or a member of the D. villarii complex is the second, still unknown, ancestor of the allotetraploid D. filix‐mas (L.) Schott. They also demonstrate the limitations of the chemical method which is quicker but less informative than the classical hybridisation procedures.