Onopordum illyricum L. subsp. illyricum (Asteraceae)

Chromosome number.

2 n = 34 (Fig. 6).

Voucher specimen.

Italy. Calabria. San Marco Argentano (Cosenza), c.da Rossillo (WGS84: 39.61343N, 16.22801E), 16 August 2021, L. Peruzzi (seeds collected and deposited at the germplasm bank of the Department of Biology, University of Pisa; IPEN: IT-0-PI-2021-0419).

Method.

Squash preparations were made on root tips obtained from germinating seeds. Root tips were pre-treated with 0.4% colchicine for 3 hours and then fixed in Carnoy fixative solution for 1 hour. After hydrolysis in HCl 1N at 60 °C, the tips were stained in leuco-basic fuchsine for 7-8 minutes.

Observations.

This species occurs in southern Europe, from the Iberian Peninsula to the Balkans, in Turkey, and in Syria (Greuter 2006 +). Although several chromosome counts are available in the literature (Moore and Frankton 1962; Chuksanova et al. 1968; Valdes 1970; Kuzmanova et al. 1979; Snogerup 1995), no data have been published so far for Italy, where two subspecies can be found, i.e., O. illyricum subsp. illyricum, distributed throughout south-central Italy (including Sardegna and Sicilia), and O. illyricum subsp. cardunculus (Boiss.) Arènes, which is known only for Sicilia (Bartolucci et al. 2018). We confirm here the chromosome number 2 n = 34 previously reported for the species.

G. Astuti, A. Giacò, L. Peruzzi