Multivariate morphometrics and an assessment of genetic diversity obtained using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) were used to determine the variability of the polymorphic group Cyanus triumfetti in Central Europe. The ploidy level of the populations studied was also determined; all individuals from the C. triumfetti group were diploid (2n ~ 2x ~ 22) and all those of the related C. montanus group were tetraploid (2n ~ 4x ~ 44). A multivariate morphometric study of 71 populations revealed that three species from the C. triumfetti group occur in Central Europe, namely ‘Cyanus axillaris’, C. strictus and C. dominii. Three subspecies are recognized within the latter species, namely C. dominii subsp. dominii, C. dominii subsp. slovenicus and C. dominii subsp. sokolensis. Morphological characters of leaves are the best features for delimiting these taxa; a shift in characters caused by cultivation did not affect the value of key characters and differences among the taxa remained. AFLP analysis of 38 populations from the C. triumfetti group and two from the C. montanus group revealed a contrasting pattern of genetic variation that was related to the geographic distribution of the populations rather than the morphological variation in the C. triumfetti group. The AFLP data revealed the following three genetically differentiated and allopatric groups: (i) C. triumfetti s.s. and C. montanus from the Western Alps, (ii) ‘C. axillaris’ from Austria and the Czech Republic (except the Carpathians) and (iii) ‘C. axillaris’, C. strictus and C. dominii from the Western Carpathians and Pannonia. The striking genetic gap between the Austrian-Czech and the W Carpathian-Pannonia groups and the high genetic diversity and weak genetic differentiation within the latter group are discussed in the light of potential glacial refuges, postglacial migration routes and/or the probability of hybridization events occurring during the evolutionary history of this group. An identification key for the taxa of the C. triumfetti group in Central Europe is presented.
The chromosome numbers of 95 populations of taxa belonging to the Scilla bifolia group growing in the territory of Western Carpathians, and adjacent part of the Pannonian lowland (Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic – Moravia) are presented. Scilla kladnii Schur (41 populations) and S. vindobonensis Speta (18 populations) have only the chromosome number 2n = 18. Both these diploid taxa seem to be karyologically uniform throughout their distribution. For S. drunensis (Speta) Speta subsp. drunensis (2 populations), and S. drunensis subsp. buekkensis (Speta) Kereszty (15 populations) the chromosome number 2n = 36 was found. For S. spetana Kereszty (2 populations), the chromosome number 2n = 54 was confirmed for Hungary and Austria. For two groups of populations of S. drunensis s.l. from Slovakia (14 populations in total) the chromosome number is 2n = 36, which is new information for the Western Carpathians. Apart from tetraploids, hexaploid populations with 2n = 54 were confirmed for three localities in Slovakia and Czech Republic (Moravia). All results are compared with earlier published data.