A total of 67 individuals belonging to the species Vaccinium uliginosum sensu lato were sampled from diverse locations in the Central Western Carpathian Mountains in order to analyse their ploidy, genome size and leaf morphology using flow cytometry, chromosome counting and various morphometric methods including field measurements, graphical analysis of scanned leaves and stomatal measurements. The high elevations of Low and High Tatra mountain ranges above 1600 m a.s.l. serve as glacial refugia for the diploid lineage; between and around them on the forelands, the tetraploid lineage occurs. Contrary to the established practice in Slovak botany, it was not possible to distinguish between the diploid and tetraploid individuals based on leaf morphology alone, even though the lineages show a higher degree of niche separation than in the Alps. The variation in the leaf shape appears to occur randomly and the variation in leaf and plant size is influenced by both cytotype and elevation. We demonstrated a case of a diploid individual at an unusually low elevation, as well as an elevational range (approx. 1600-1650 m a.s.l.) where the two cytotypes overlap. This study comprehensively maps the occurrence, morphology and cytotype of V. uliginosum in Slovakia for the first time.
Vaneková et al. (Thu,) studied this question.