Karyotype analysis of Hypericum rumeliacum BOISS .

Karyotype of the Balkan endemic, Hypericum rumeliacum , was studied using root tip meristems of in vitro propagated plants. The absolute length of the chromosomes varied between 0.97 and 1.59 �m. The karyotype formula of the basic chromosome set (x = 7) was 3m + 1m sat + 3sm. Karyotype data were compared with other karyotype data for the genus Hypericum avaliable in literature. Only one common chromosome type - substantially bigger chromosome, is clearly distinguishable in some of the species. The other chromosomes are small, median to submedian and often difficult to distinguish due to their small size. Asymmetry index is low in Hypericum rumeliacum and other species with available karyotype data suggesting that they underwent no major karyotype rearrangements in their evolutionary pathway.