Morphological and cytological studies of some Nigerian species of Tephrosia Pers.
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Date
1986
Authors
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Publisher
Obafemi Awolowo University
Abstract
The genus Tephrosia Pers. is represented by over 400 species out of which about fifteen are
found in Nigeria, out of which seven were considered in this study viz: T. bracteolata Guil'd
Perr., T. flexuosa G. Don., T. simplicifolia Frarch, T. barbigeria Welw. ex. Bak., T. linearis
(Willd.) Pers., T. elegans Schum. and T .pedicellata Bak. Of these, T. bracteolata is widespread
in Nigeria.
The genus Tephrosia shows considerable morphological variability. Measurements of the
Morphological traits (vegetative and floral) are more or less characteristic for each species, but
there is obvious overlap of the measurements in some cases: this underscores the close genetic
identity of the species. The close genetic identity can also be seen in the close pollen size and
shape.
Some aspects of inter-specific and intra-specific variability of the observed attributes can be
explained by invoking response of the populations to ecological conditions.
From mitotic studies, the most prevalent diploid number of chromosomes of 22 was observed for
T. bracteolata, T. flexuosa, T. elegans, T. barbirgera and T. purpurea while the less frequent
diploid chromosome numbers of 20 and 16 were found in T. pedicellata and T. simplicifolia
respectively.
Meiosis is normal in T. bracteolata as seen in the regular bivalent associations and in the normal
alignment of the chromosomes on the metaphase plate.
Description
57p
Keywords
Morphology, cytology, chromosomes, population, meiosis
Citation
Akinwale, S.A, 91986). Morphological and cytological studies of some Nigerian species of Tephrosia Pers.