Karyological Analysis of Endemic Five Muscari Taxa

Five endemic Muscari taxa in Turkey are examined in terms of chromosome number and morphology. Muscari sivrihisardaghlarense (2n=18), M. serpentinicum (2n=18), M. atillae (2n=18) and M. ufukii (2n=18) are diploid. M. tuzgoluense is polyploid with 2n=36 chromosome number. Chromosome counts have confirmed the previous reports that Muscari genus is x=9 of basic chromosome number. The chromosome number and morphology of these species are reported for the first time. The karyotypes have the predominance of metacentric and submetacentric chromosomes. Six quantitative asymmetric indices were used to evaluate the karyological characteristics of the species, and these results increase our karyological knowledge about the species.