OBSERVATIONS ON THE CYTOLOGY AND SEED‐PROTEINS OF VARIOUS AFRICAN SPECIES OF CROTALARIA L. (LEGUMINOSAE)

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Abstract
SUMMARY: Mitotic metaphase plates of fifty‐seven species of Crotalaria have been studied to determine the chromosome number and compare the size and shape of the chromosomes. The predominance of 2n= 16 is confirmed, but 2n= 14 is general in Section Incanae subsection Incanae and the first instance, in the Old World, of 2n= 32 is reported for C. massaiensis. The shorter and thinner types of chromosome seem most common in the apparently more derived groups of the genus, when a recent classification is adopted.Globulins extracted from thirty‐six species (twenty‐four also examined cytologically) and subjected to disc electrophoresis show four recognizable protein‐band patterns. The two major types of pattern show reasonable correlation with the generic subdivisions and a comparable distribution to the major types of chromosome form.Evidence from both lines of investigation suggests that subsections of Incanae should perhaps be raised to sectional rank.