Karyological Analysis of Cyclamen hederifolium s.l. in Greece

Abstract

The current study aims to contribute to the further karyological knowledge of the very diverse species Cyclamen hederifolium. The species is represented in Greece by two subspecies, C. hederifolium subsp. hederifolium and C. hederifolium subsp. crassifolium, which are not widely accepted as taxonomically distinct taxa. The subspecies are analyzed karyologically and morphometry of the most important karyological features is used to compare them, attempting to reveal the taxonomic relationships between the two subspecies. However, the karyological analysis proved that all karyotypes are symmetrical and both subspecies have both diploid and tetraploid populations. The applied karyomorphometry and multivariate analysis provided no special pattern and it was unable to differentiate the subspecies from a karyological point of view.