231
ISSN 0095-4527, Cytology and Genetics, 2018, Vol. 52, No. 3, pp. 231–235. © Allerton Press, Inc., 2018.
Cytological Variability in Artemisia L. inhabiting North-West
Himalayas: В Chromosomes in Artemisia gmelini Weber ex Stechm
1
R. Gurmet
a,
*, U. Bharti
a
, G. J. Mir
a
, and N. Sharma
a
a
Department of Botany, University of Jammu, Jammu, 180006 India
*e-mail: rinzmailbox@rediffmail.com
Received July 12, 2016
Abstract⎯Present work is a part of our studies on the cytological details of some species of Artemisia L. inhabiting
Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir state. Of the six populations investigated for three different species (Arte-
misia sieversiana Ehrh. ex Willd., A. tournefortiana L. and A. gmelinii Weber ex Stechm.), some variations were
noticed only for Artemisia gmelinii. The species occurring in Leh region at altitudinal range of 3992 masl is diploid
with 2n = 18 (n = 9). In one of the population of the species, sprawling in Hemis region (4009 masl), В chromo-
some was found to be present in addition to the diploid chromosome complement. Comparison of the different
morphological and reproductive features revealed that the population with В chromosome had reduced vigour.
Keywords: Artemisia gmelinii, chromosome, interspecific variation, chiasmata frequency
DOI: 10.3103/S0095452718030052
INTRODUCTION
Artemisia L. is one of the largest genera of the fam-
ily Asteraceae, containing more than 500 taxa depend-
ing on the opinions of the authors who have classified
it [1–9]. It is an eminent wind pollinated, cosmopoli-
tan genus concentrated mainly in semi arid to arid cli-
mate areas of temperate regions of mid to high latitude
of the northern hemisphere [11]. Almost every species
of the genus Artemisia finds use as a source of medi-
cine, food, forage or other useful products in one way
or other. Numerous karyological surveys are available
for this genus [12–24] revealing it to be highly unstable
cytologically with most of the species exhibiting poly-
ploidy and even new base numbers. In our attempt to
analyse the cytological status of the taxa abounding
different altitudinal ranges in our state i.e. Jammu and
Kashmir, India we made studies on the species form-
ing distinct populations in different regions. Present
study is based on two populations of Artemisia gmelinii
growing wild in cold desert of Ladakh, Jammu and
Kashmir showing intraspecific variation.
Artemisia gmelinii Weber ex Stechm., is luxuriantly
distributed in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir
state. Commonly known as Gmelins or Russian worm-
wood and “nurcha” or “khampa shridi” by the local
populace. It is a bushy aromatic shrub found in the
alpine regions of Kashmir, Kinnaur and Kumaon on
the interior ranges bordering Tibet between altitudes
of 2700–5100 masl. The herb of A.gmelinii is used as
incense by the local inhabitants due to its aromatic
odour. The essential oil of Artemisia species is also find-
ing its place in the indigenous perfumery industries. The
genus is thought to have originated in Southern Russia,
Siberia, Afghanistan [24], from where it has migrated
to the North-Western Himalaya [25].
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Study Area and the Plant Species
Different populations of Artemisia gmelinii were
scanned at hill slopes and rocky valleys of Leh and
Hemis areas of Ladakh lies at an altitudinal range of
3992–4009 masl. The region is characterized by harsh
climatic conditions and very complex soil formation
patterns. The species inhabits rocky areas and dry
slopes of these regions. The plants were identified
using regional floras, papers on local floras and
voucher specimens from herbarium of Botanical Sur-
vey of India (BSI), Dehradun; Indian Institute of
Integrative Medicine (IIIM), Jammu and Defence
Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), Leh.
Floral Phenology and Reproductive Efficiency
Details on vegetative and morphological features
like plant height, leaf number per plant, number of
flowers per inflorescence etc. were collected from the
plants growing in the field. Floral structure with
emphasis on reproductive apparatus, number of flo-
rets per capitulum was studied in lab. All these mea-
surements were carried out using a scale and/or stage
micrometer.
1
The article is published in the original.
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