Karyotypic study of some Iranian species and populations of Lotus L.

Abstract

for the first time. The study showed x = 6 and 7 are available in Iranian Lotus species; all taxa studied except L. corniculatus (4x) were diploid. The species studied varied in their karyotypic formulae and symmetry. They also differed significantly in their total chroma-tin length as well as size of long arms and short arms, indicating the occurrence of both structural and quantitative changes in their karyotypes during the species diversification. Clustering of the Lotus species based on karyotypic features partly supports their taxono-mic treatment.