Karyotypes in Relation to Classification and Phylogeny in Claytonia

mosomal ia iie d in Claytonia involving symmetry, large size and few satellites is cud de the gross sone ag asa d e specialized species and their clases Similar to C. sibirica to sect.Limnia In the classification of the genus Claytonia L. (Portulacaceae) proposed by Gray (1887) and as recently modified (Swanson, 1966; Nilsson, 1966), one annual and three perennial sections are recognized."Those species in the sect.Caudicosae with heavy taproots are considered primitive, those with rhizomes or runners in the sect.Rhizomatosae intermediate between the caudicose perennials and the specialized geophytic species of the sect.Claytonia, while the annual species of the sect.Limnia are also thought to be advanced.This subgeneric classification and proposed phylogeny are based only on morphological characters to which we now add data from chromosomal morphology.