POLYPLOIDY IN THE FLORA OF PAKISTAN IN RELATION TO LATITUDE, LIFE FORM, AND TAXONOMIC GROUPS

Abstract

SummaryThis is the first attempt in Pakistan to relate frequency of polyploidy to life‐form and geographical distribution. In dicotyledonous plants the degree of ploidy was found to be at all levels from triploid to decaploid while in monocotyledonous plants, tetraploids and pentaploids were noted. The perennials, in dicots as well as in monocots, had a higher percentage of polyploidy than annuals, being 47.6% in dicots and 40.0%) in monocots in contrast to 39.6%) and 21.6% in annual dicots and monocots respectively. Six large families investigated for percentage of polyploidy ‐ Malvaceae, Solanaceae, Gramineae, Compositae, Leguminosae and Convolvulaceae ‐ showed 90.0%, 89.7%, 30.4%), 22.2%, 19.2%) and 85.7%) respectively, which supports earlier conclusions, that percentage of polyploidy varies from family to family as much or more than from one latitude to another.