Intraspecific floral morphotypes in six high altitude perennial herbaceous species from northwest Himalaya: their chromosome counts, meiotic behavior and pollen fertility

Exploratory surveys were carried out in the high altitude areas of the northwest Indian Himalaya to analyze and appraise the cytomorphological diversity among the wild flowering plants. During the random exploratory surveys, we found morphological variations in six species viz., Dianthus angulatus Royle ex Benth. (Caryophyllaceae), Geranium wallichianum D. Don ex Sweet (Geraniaceae), Gypsophila cerastioides D. Don (Caryophyllaceae), Impatiens thomsonii Hook.f. (Balsaminaceae), Ranunculus hirtellus Royle (Ranunculaceae) and Thalictrum foetidum L. Variation in the colour of flowers is the main difference in these species. We also investigated chromosome number, male meiosis and pollen fertility in these species. An attempt has also been made to find out the existence of any variation in chromosome number in these floral-morphotypes.