Karyotypic Variations in Different Accessions of Urginea indica (Roxb) Kunth. and Urginea wightii Lakshmin. Hyacinthaceae

Urginea indica Kunth. Hyacinthaceae, commonly called Indian Squill, represents a species complex. Intraspecies variation is common. Karyological studies were made in six accessions of Urginea collected from six different places in India, of which four accessions of Urginea indica were collected from Kanakapura, Trichendur, Kashmir valley, and Kerala. Two accessions of Urginea wightii were from Gubbi and Bellary. Variations in ploidy were noted. Among the Urginea indica accessions, diploids (2n=20) were found in Kanakapura, Trichendur, and Kashmir Valley; a pentaploid (2n=50) was noticed in the Kerala accession, whereas two different ploidies were noticed in the Urginea wightii accessions of Gubbi and Bellary (2n=20, 2n=40) within the same plant. There is close homology between Kanakapura and Tiruchendur with subtelocentric being a major component.