Chromosome counts in wild and cultivated species of Abelmoschus Medikus. from the Indian sub-continent

SummaryAbelmoschus is regarded as a polyploid-polyspecies complex and a genus with variable genome organisation and resultant ambiguity in its speciation. A cytogenetic basis for taxonomy can be significant, due to the fact that many of the taxonomic units of Abelmoschus are heterogeneous in nature with deviant numbers of chromosomes. In the present investigation, 39 wild and cultivated accessions of Abelmoschus from India, belonging to three representative taxa, were used to record clear and authentic chromosome counts. From these data, the numbers of somatic chromosomes in A. angulosus var. grandiflorus, A. moschatus ssp. moschatus, and A. moschatus ssp. tuberosus are reported to be 2n = 66, 2n = 72, and 2n = 72, respectively. The present study also confirmed 2n = 130 to be the authentic number of somatic chromosomes in A. esculentus. Earlier conflicting reports are ruled out. Reports of the occurrence of cytotypes in A. esculentus are not acceptable, due to its wide area of cultivation.