Aquatic Ranunculus (sect. Batrachium) include homophyllous and heterophyllous plants. The development of floating leaves may be induced by genetic mechanisms or/and environmental conditions and this fact complicates the morphologically based identification of species. DNA-based studies provide the opportunity to expand the knowledge of this complicated group. We studied heterophyllous Ranunculus with well-developed capillary and intermediate leaves and visually homophyllous plants with capillary leaves from a single river basin, with the aim to evaluate their genetic polymorphism and taxonomic status—whether the plants with well-developed and weakly expressed intermediate leaves belong to different forms (taxa) or if they just express morphological variation of one or two taxa in a specific, very variable river environment. The studied heterophyllous and homophyllous plants from different rivers showed high genetic differentiation and a low level of genetic diversity within these groups. The molecular analysis did not reveal any inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) polymorphism associated with the development of intermediate leaves. An analysis of nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacers ITS1–2 sequences revealed several ribotypes, which indicated the genetic heterogeneity of studied plants and indirectly confirmed the hybrid origin of some of them. Sterile plants originated from crossing of R. circinatus and R. penicillatus were discovered in the Skroblus River; however, identification of the parental species was impeded by the polymorphism detected. For this reason, cytological studies were performed and allowed confirmation of the hybrid origin of these plants.

Blue honeysuckle (Lonicera caerulea L.) is a promising berry crop producing edible early-ripening berries with a valuable chemical composition. We evaluated the genetic diversity of native L. caerulea populations from the western (Baltic states) and eastern (the Russian Far East and Japan) edges of the Eurasian range using inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and chloroplast DNA (psbA-trnH and trnL-trnF) markers. The genetic relationships of populations and genotypes were analyzed using principal coordinate and cluster analyses (neighbor joining and Bayesian clustering). Sampling was carried out in two disjunct areas of this circumpolar species and the analyses showed clustering of individuals and populations according to geographic origin. The analysis of genetic structure based on ISSR markers showed that the studied populations of L. caerulea were highly differentiated. However, sequence analysis of two chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) regions revealed no phylogeographic structure among the populations. We also found that the eastern populations of blue honeysuckle had significantly greater genetic diversity parameters than the populations from the Baltic region. This finding correlates with the endangered status of blue honeysuckle in the Baltic states.