Article ID: OKD-006
Lilium auratum var. auratum Lindl. is distributed in the eastern part of Honshu, the main island of Japan. L. auratum var. platyphyllum Baker is endemic to the Izu archipelago, which consists of nine large islands located in south of Honshu’s Izu peninsula. Both varieties have been used as important parents of Oriental hybrid lily cultivars. They have large white flowers with yellow central stripes and colored spots on their tepals. L. auratum var. platyphyllum has larger flowers and wider leaves than L. auratum var. auratum. L. auratum var. platyphyllum has yellow spots, whereas L. auratum var. auratum has red or brown ones. Natural hybridization between these two taxa has been suggested on the basis of spot colors of populations in the Izu archipelago and the Izu peninsula. However, their genetic diversity and hybridity in nature have not been reported. We performed morphological analysis using 72 individuals of L. auratum var. auratum from seven populations and 72 individuals of L. auratum var. platyphyllum from six populations. We also performed simple sequence repeat (SSR) analysis using 102 individuals of L. auratum var. auratum from seven populations and 134 individuals of L. auratum var. platyphyllum from six populations. Both analyses revealed that L. auratum var. auratum and L. auratum var. platyphyllum are genetically different and that L. auratum var. platyphyllum has genetic diversity among populations in the archipelago.
