Karyotypes of seven Chinese species of Fritillaria (Liliaceae)

In the present study, chromosomes of seven species of Fritillaria from China were observed, including F. albidoflora Duan & Zheng, F. cirrhosa Don, F. pallidiflora Schrenk ex Fischer & Meyer, F. sichuanica Chen, F. tortifolia Duan & Zheng, F. walujewii Regel, and F. yuminensis Duan. Chromosome numbers and karyotypes of the seven species were determined, with three reported here for the first time. The present results showed high chromosome asymmetry in the Chinese Fritillaria. In addition, the differences in karyotypes indicated that it might not be justified to reduce F. albidoflora to a synonym of F. verticillata Willdenow. Thus, further study is needed to verify the relationship between the two taxa.