Adiantum Caudatum Research Articles

Cytotaxonomic studies in the Adiantum caudatum complex of Africa and Asia

Cytotaxonomic studies in the Adiantum caudatum complex of Africa and Asia

Cytotaxonomic studies in the Adiantum caudatum complex of Africa and Asia. II. Autoploidy and alloploidy in African representatives of A. incisum

A hybridization programme involving populations attributable to A. incisum Forsk. sens. lat. from several parts of Africa has shown that, while all those sampled are tetraploid (unlike the Indian equivalents which are predominantly diploid), they are not all genetically identical. One ecologically differentiated allotetraploid has been collected from Tanganyika (Mt. Kilimanjaro) and the pairing behaviour of its chromosomes analysed in a range of crosses involving oriental and African cytotypes. All the other African samples investigated appear to be of autoploid origin. This is the first demonstration of autoploid derivation in the genus Adiantum.