Contribution to the cytotaxonomic knowledge of 10 species of Klasea Cass. (Asteraceae) from Turkey

In the present study, karyotype analyses of 10 taxa belongs to the genus Klasea Cass. (Asteraceae) were conducted. Somatic chromosome numbers are not a distinctive character of classification of Klasea taxa. All of the taxa were counted as 2n = 30 chromosomes, except for Klasea radiata subsp. biebersteiniana (2n = 60). Although all the taxa have a chromosome number of 2n = 30, they could be differentiated by their karyotype formula and quantitative parameters of the karyotype. Karyotype analysis was performed by means of an Image Analysis System and karyotype asymmetry indices were measured. According to these parameters, karyological relationships among studied taxa were inferred.