CHROMOSOME NUMBERS IN SOME TRIPLEUROSPERMUM (ASTERACEAE) SPECIES FROM IRAN

INTRODUCTION The genus Tripleurospermum Sch. Bip. belongs to the tribe Anthemideae of the Asteraceae (Compositae) family and comprises c. 40 species distributed mainly in Europe and temperate Asia, with a few species also in North America and North Africa (Bremer & Humphries 1993). The genus is represented by 7 taxa at the level of species and variety in the Flora of IRAN (Mozaffarian 2008). The most common basic chromosome number in the Anthemideae is x=9, although x=8 and x=10 have been reported by some researchers (Carr et al. 1999; Valles et al. 2005; Chehregani & Hajisadeghian 2009). The aim of the present study is to provide karyological data of Tripleurospermum that might increase our knowledge on systematic and evolutionary relationships within the genus.