Abstract
A query concerning the possibilities of crossing various horticultural varieties of Bougainvillea led me to examine meiosis in several of the more important ones available in Jamaica. Six varieties, Snow White, Formosa, Dark Purple, Ruby, Orange King and Royal Purple, were used. The first three have been assigned to the species Bougainvillea glabra, the next two to B. spectabilis, and the last is reputed to be a cross between unknown glabra and spectabilis types. In all six varieties, the chromosome number was found to be 2n = 34. None of the available, chromosome number lists gives any number for B. spectabilis, but Darlington and Ammal1 list, B. glabra as 2n = 20. Since a counting error of 14 chromosomes is unlikely, it seems probable that the horticultural glabrous types are not directly derived from the true B. glabra but are species hybrids resulting from doubling in an (x = 10) × (x = 7) type. There is, however, little direct evidence for this assumption.
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Darlington, C. D., and Ammal, E. K. Janaki (Allen and Unwin, London, 1945).
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WILSON, G. Meiosis in Bougainvillea. Nature 160, 121 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/160121a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/160121a0
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