MEDITERRANEAN AND ASIAN TAXA OF ANEMONE (SECTION ERIOCEPHALUS) WITH TUBEROUS ROOTSTOCKS
Old World species of Anemone L. (section Eriocephalus Hook. f. & Thoms.) with tuberous rootstocks have been classified into three groups on the basis of their distribution and karyotypes. Anemone coronaria L., A. pavonina Lam., and A. hortensis L. of the northern, central, and eastern Mediterranean regions have karyotypes characteristic of the genus: three acrocentric, one submetacentric, and four metacentric chromosomes. Chromosomes of A. coronaria are smaller than those of A. pavonina and A. hortensis. Anemone palmata L. from the western Mediterranean differs from these in having four acrocentric and four metacentric chromosomes. Karyotypes of taxa from central Asia received as A. "bucharica", A. "petiolulosa", and A. "biflora" have three acrocentrics, two submetacentrics, and only three metacentrics. All taxa are diploid, 2n = 16, except A. palmata in which tetraploid populations are also known.Crosses between Old and New World species of Anemone with tuberous rootstocks were failures while those between Old World species with tuberous rootstocks and New World species with fibrous or woody rootstocks met with limited success.