Abstract
The Chrysanthemum zawadskii complex is demarcated from other species by having the white and pink ligulate flowers. Its morphological characters are greatly diversified, so that various classification systems have been suggested. The character of leaf thickness has been mentioned as the characteristic for recognizing some of infra-specific taxa within this complex. In this study, we used longitudinal leaf sections to investigate the leaf thickness and cell number of leaf blades of 13 populations including those of the members of the C. zawadskii complex, as well as 4 populations of the related species of C. boreale and C. indicum. From the result, it was clear that the leaves were thicker in populations of C. boreale, C. indicum and C. zawadskii complex (diminishing in that order), and that the leaves were composed of about 9 cell layers in all populations. Within the C. zawadskii complex, leaf shape and thickness varied among the populations. It was very interesting that the taxa with restricted distribution, like C. zawadskii var. tenuisectum, C. zawadskii var. alpinum, C. zawadskii var. lucidum, and C. zawadskii subsp. coreanum had a thicker leaves than found among widely occurring taxa. From this, leaf thickness is supposed to be an adaptation to the unique habitat of each population.
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