ABSTRACT
Recently developed techniques in molecular biology have much to offer for investigations about the origins of cultivated plants. In this chapter we discuss observations of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) variation in wild taro, Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott (Hill 1939) and chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) variation in wild and cultivated aerial yam, Dioscorea bulbifera (L. Prain & Burkill 1936; see Hather 1994, Loy 1994). These species are believed to have been cultivated since very ancient times and are common in tropical parts of Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
