Crossing experiments in Allium L. section Cepa

Abstract

A full diallel was carried out with six diploid species of Allium section Cepa and A. roylei of section Rhizirideum, High isolation barriers were found between the related species A. cepa and A. oschaninii, between A. oschaninii and A. vavilovii, and between A. galanthum and A. pskemense. On the contrary, the species A. cepa and A. roylei, belonging to different sections, show only slight isolation barriers. The Wallace effect, which is the development of internal isolation barriers as such, is likely to have taken place in the evolution of A. oschaninii and A. vavilovii, and possibly also between A. galanthum and A. pskemense.