Polyploidy is a common phenomenon in vascular plants, with recent studies showing that 15% of angiosperm and 31% of fern speciation events involve ploidy increases. This is four times higher than previous estimates, indicating that polyploid species are relatively common, with 35% of species in vascular plant genera being polyploid. However, there is no direct evidence that polyploid lineages diversify more rapidly than diploid ones. Polyploidy contributes to cladogenesis but not necessarily to increased diversification rates. Polyploidy, the increase in genome copy number, is a key factor in plant diversification. It is associated with reproductive isolation, morphological differentiation, and saltational speciation. Cytological, fossil, and genomic data suggest that 47-100% of flowering plant species have a polyploid ancestry. In ferns, high chromosome numbers suggest most extant taxa are derived from ancient polyploidy. However, these data do not clarify the frequency of ongoing polyploid speciation. Using phylogenetic data, the study estimates that 15% of angiosperm and 31% of fern speciation events involve ploidy increases. This is based on analyzing 1,813 angiosperm and 204 fern speciation events across phylogenetic trees. The results suggest that polyploid speciation is more common than previously thought, but there is no evidence that polyploid lineages diversify more rapidly. The study also found that polyploid incidence is negatively associated with generic base counts in angiosperms but not in ferns. The study also examined the relationship between polyploid incidence and species richness. While polyploid incidence explains a small portion of the variance in species richness, the relationship is stronger when considering genera with chromosome counts for at least 50% of species. However, this does not indicate that polyploidy leads to increased diversification. The study concludes that the frequency of polyploid speciation in vascular plants is higher than previously estimated, but the results may be conservative due to incomplete phylogenetic resolution and multiple polyploid speciation events that may appear as a single event in phylogenetic trees. The study also notes that the high frequency of polyploid speciation in angiosperms, combined with chromosome loss in polyploid lines, helps explain the surprising evidence that even flowering plants with low chromosome numbers have a polyploid ancestry.Polyploidy is a common phenomenon in vascular plants, with recent studies showing that 15% of angiosperm and 31% of fern speciation events involve ploidy increases. This is four times higher than previous estimates, indicating that polyploid species are relatively common, with 35% of species in vascular plant genera being polyploid. However, there is no direct evidence that polyploid lineages diversify more rapidly than diploid ones. Polyploidy contributes to cladogenesis but not necessarily to increased diversification rates. Polyploidy, the increase in genome copy number, is a key factor in plant diversification. It is associated with reproductive isolation, morphological differentiation, and saltational speciation. Cytological, fossil, and genomic data suggest that 47-100% of flowering plant species have a polyploid ancestry. In ferns, high chromosome numbers suggest most extant taxa are derived from ancient polyploidy. However, these data do not clarify the frequency of ongoing polyploid speciation. Using phylogenetic data, the study estimates that 15% of angiosperm and 31% of fern speciation events involve ploidy increases. This is based on analyzing 1,813 angiosperm and 204 fern speciation events across phylogenetic trees. The results suggest that polyploid speciation is more common than previously thought, but there is no evidence that polyploid lineages diversify more rapidly. The study also found that polyploid incidence is negatively associated with generic base counts in angiosperms but not in ferns. The study also examined the relationship between polyploid incidence and species richness. While polyploid incidence explains a small portion of the variance in species richness, the relationship is stronger when considering genera with chromosome counts for at least 50% of species. However, this does not indicate that polyploidy leads to increased diversification. The study concludes that the frequency of polyploid speciation in vascular plants is higher than previously estimated, but the results may be conservative due to incomplete phylogenetic resolution and multiple polyploid speciation events that may appear as a single event in phylogenetic trees. The study also notes that the high frequency of polyploid speciation in angiosperms, combined with chromosome loss in polyploid lines, helps explain the surprising evidence that even flowering plants with low chromosome numbers have a polyploid ancestry.