Contemporary interspecific hybridization between Dracocephalum kotschyi and Dracocephalum oligadenium (Lamiaceae): Evidence from morphological, anatomical and molecular data

Abstract

Dracocephalum is the second largest genus in the family Lamiaceae with about 186 species. These species are native in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere and occur in the territory of the extra-tropical Asia and Europe. Eight Dracocephalum species reported in Iran; these are mainly growing in the northern and central parts of the country belonging to the Irano-Turanian phytogeographical region. Dracocephalum kotschyi is an important medicinal plant .in the country. At the same time, taxonomic position of Dracocephalum oligadenium is a challenging issue. In this work morphological, anatomical and Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers were used to identify these species in Iran. MDS plot based on morphological and anatomical characters, furthermore, PCoA and MST plot based on ISSR data of species revealed hybridization between D. oligadenium and D. kotschyi.