Meiotic and Ethnobotanical Studies on Rheum Species from Kashmir Himalaya

Abstract

The Rheum species (R. emodi, R. spiciforme, and R. webbianum) are endangered species and have vanished from lower altitudes. Meiotic studies of the three species show that the polyploidy is reported only in R. webbianum, as it depicts two cytotypes, i.e., diploid (2x) in population from Panzila Top and tetraploid (4x) from Parkhachik and Tangole, of which the diploid cytotype is reported for the first time in this species. Moreover, a diploid cytotype (2x) in R. spiciforme is reported for the first time in India. Further, meiotic course is abnormal in all the studied populations, as all show meiotic abnormalities in the form of cytomixis, chromatin stickiness, unoriented bivalents, chromatin bridges and laggards, leading to abnormal microsporogensis, ultimately affecting pollen viability. Ethnobotanical information depicts the use of different parts of all the Rheum species by local people to control many diseases like piles, constipation, skin eruptions, intestinal infection, wounds, joint pains and also used as food.