Chromosome Counts from the Flora of the Juan Fernandez Islands, Chile. III.

Abstract

Thirty-four chromosome counts are reported from populations in 20 species from Masafuera in the Juan Fernandez Islands, Chile. New species counts are in Abrotanella crassipes (2n = 18), Carpobrotus aequilaterus (n = 9), Coprosma pyrifolia (n = 22), Drimys confertifolia (n = ca. 43), Euphrasia Jormosissima (n = 44), Parietaria debilis (n = 8), and UrticaJernandeziana (n = ca. 11). A new chromosomal level for Hypochoeris glabra (n = 12) also is provided. The taxonomic implications of certain of these counts are discussed. These data help extend chromosomal information for endemic taxa of the archipelago as part of broad evolutionary studies on the origin of the vascular plants. This study again emphasizes the absence of aneuploid or euploid chromosomal alterations during speciation within the archipelago.