Abstract
At mitosis root tip cells in I. panchananii, I. inclica and I. corornandelina (Varanasi form) show forty-four chromosomes and a fragment while plants of I. coromandelina (Lohgarha and Konark forms) show only thirty-three chromosomes and a fragment. Meiotic studies during micro and megasporogenesis of I. indica and microsporogenesis of I. panchananii show different types of chromosomal configurations at metaphase=I: many of them fail to form bivalents but aggregate in groups of two, three, four or more, where the chromosomes are joined laterally, end to end or cross-wise. Meiosis is irregular and instead of reduction division, there is an equational separation of the same number of chromosomes as are seen at mitosis. This results in the formation of two nucleate and two enucleate megaspores. A few of the larger nucleate megaspores, possibly with the full chromosomal complement, germinate and give rise to sporelings without fertilization while other larger megaspores and all smaller enucleate ones are abortive.
