Inheritance of sesquiterpene lactone types within the <i>Achillea millefolium</i> complex (<i>Compositae</i>)*

Abstract

Abstract Successful crossing experiments between tetraploid individuals of Achillea ceretanica, A. collina, A. distans ssp. styriaca , and A. pratensis ( A. millefolium complex, Compositae ) were carried out. Sesquiterpenes of 1013 hybrid plants obtained from 13 crossings were studied by qualitative thin layer chromatography (TLC). F 1 ‐progenies from parent plants with guaianolides (GU‐type), as well as the offspring of a back‐cross, uniformly contained proazulenes. Diallel crosses between plants exclusively with eudesmanolides (EU‐type) resulted in a 7:1 segregation‐ratio of EU‐ and GU‐plants. Two reciprocal crossing experiments between EU‐ and GU‐parents resulted in 28.6% and 89.3% EU‐individuals, as well as GU‐offspring. According to these findings, the qualitative marker ‘proazulene’ (GU‐type) is thought to be a recessive character of the tetraploid Achillea species studied.