Abstract
The variation of secondary plant constituents in major plant taxa takes place in small steps which allow to trace plant evolution and at the same time also reflect the dispersion of these taxa. This is taken as indirect proof of the fact that these constituents have an important ecological significance for the plants producing them, an assumption for which there is growing evidence.
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The authors would like to thank Prof. J.B. Harborne, University of Reading, Dr. P.H. Raven, Missouri Botanical Garden, and especially J. Kadereit, Botany School, Cambridge, for critically reading the manuscript.
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Gottlieb, O.R., Kubitzki, K. Ecogeographical phytochemistry. Naturwissenschaften 70, 119–126 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00401595
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00401595