Cytotaxonomical Studies in Eight Genera of Amaryllidaceae

Abstract

Amaryllidaceae is one of the largest families of monocotyledons comprising 85 genera and 1100 species which are mainly tropical and subtropical in distribution (Willis 1973). The plants are either bulbous or rhizomatous and the propagation is mainly through vegetative means. Many Amaryllids are favourable horticultural plants with their large showy and attractive flowers. This family has been of great interest to cytologists and morphologists because of the disputed systematic position of many genera. In recent years the importance of study of cytology is being more and more appreciated in evolving a natural and phylogenetic system of classification. The works of Babcock and his collaborators (1937) in Crepidineae, Sinnot and his Co-workers on Iris, Sharma and Ghosh (1954), Sharma and Das (1954), Sharma and Bal (1956) and Sharma and Chaudhuri (1964) on Amaryllids and Aroids afford excellant examples where this type of study was conducted. Although, this family has been explored earlier by several investigators (Inariyama 1933, Sato 1938, Flory 1944, 1954, Sharma and Ghosh 1954, Sharma and Bal 1956, Sharma and Battacharya 1956, Mookerjea 1955 and Raina and Khoshoo 1971 a, b, and c) a large number of Indian genera and species still remained uninvestigated. Hence in the present study an investigation of karyomorphology (8 genera) and meiosis (3 genera) has been endeavoured with a view to assess its bearing on the taxonomy of these genera. © 1980, Japan Mendel Society, International Society of Cytology. All rights reserved.