STUDIES ON SOLIDAGO L.: IV. THE CHROMOSOME NUMBERS OF CERTAIN TAXA OF THE GENUS SOLIDAGO

Abstract

The authors report the chromosome numbers of 25 taxa of the genus Solidago which had not yet been studied from this standpoint, and review the literature. The chromosome numbers of 42 taxa have now been published. The basic number of the genus is nine. Thirty-three taxa are diploid (2n = 18), five are tetraploid (2n = 36), three are aggregate taxa containing both diploid and tetraploid cytodemes, and one is hexaploid (2n = 54). Polyploidy has thus contributed to the evolution of the genus Solidago but it seems that most of the species have differentiated gradually. S. decemflora DC. of western North America differs from S. nemoralis Ait. of the same continent by morphological characters, its geographical distribution, and its chromosome number, the first taxon being tetraploid and the second diploid; the two are thus good species and not only varieties of the same species. The S. rigida of authors is an aggregate made up of two entities which are distinguished not only by their morphology and geographical distribution but also by their chromosome numbers; the eastern one (S. rigida L.) is tetraploid, whereas the western one (S. parvirigida Beaudry) is diploid. The bog and marsh goldenrods, S. Purshii and S. uliginosa, also possess different chromosome numbers, the first being diploid and the second tetraploid.