Premium
High chromosome numbers in Mojavean and Sonoran desert A triplex canescens (Chenopodiaceae)
Author(s) -
Sanderson Stewart C.,
Stutz Howard C.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1994.tb15593.x
Subject(s) - biology , botany , ploidy , chenopodiaceae , interspecific competition , genetics , gene
Cytological, flavonoid, and morphological data are provided for several varieties of the shrubby species Atriplex canescens (Pursh) Nutt. ( x = 9) (fourwing saltbush) in the Mojavean and Sonoran deserts of southwestern United States and northern Mexico. These include var. linearis (S. Wats.) Munz (2 x ); var. angustifolia (Torr.) S. Wats. ( 2x , 4 x ); var. occidentalis (Torr. & Frem.) Welsh & Stutz (4 x , 6 x ), the common variety; var. laciniata Parish (12 x ); and var. macilenta Jeps. (12 x ). Atriplex canescens var. grandidentatum Stutz & Sanderson (20 x ) is newly described. An autoploid origin from 12 x var. laciniata is suggested for the 14 x and 20 x polyploids, through unreduced gametes. Founder populations of odd‐ploid products arising during such a sequence of events could probably have returned to even‐ploidy through genetic segregation and the rapid elimination of aneuploids. Morphological characters suggest an origin for 12 x var. laciniata by interspecific hybridization of var. occidentalis with A. polycarpa (Torr.) S. Wats.