CHROMOSOME PAIRING IN TWO INTERSPECIFIC HYBRIDS OF TRIFOLIUM

Abstract
Both Trifolium repens (2n = 32) and T. nigrescens (2n = 16) formed bivalents during meiosis. However, their triploid hybrid showed an average of 4.27 trivalents per microsporocyte at metaphase I. The frequency of trivalents in the hybrid between T. nigrescens and autotetraploid T. occidentale (2n = 32) was 5.69. The data are interpreted to indicate: (1) a possible autotetraploid origin of T. repens; and (2) a close phylogenetic relationship among T. repens, T. nigrescens and T. occidentale.