Evolutionary relationships among green plants (green algae and land plants). The two main evolutionary branches depict the two sister phyla (Chlorophyta and Streptophyta) into which all green plants fall. Chlorophyta comprises three classes (Ulvophyceae, Trebouxiophyceae, and Chlorophyceae). The two deeply diverging chlorophycean lineages defined by flagellar apparatus configuration (CW, clockwise; DO, directly opposed) are shown. The Prasinophyceae is a non-monophyletic assemblage of primitive green algae, some of which are of uncertain phylogenic affiliation (dashed lines). All the green plants for which complete mtDNA sequences have been determined are indicated, with the exception of Pedinomonas minor, a primitive unicellular green flagellate whose phylogenetic position has not yet been established.
