A morphological and cytological study of native and introduced Lotus species found in Canada has been conducted on both living material and on over 600 herbarium specimens from 20 Canadian and American herbaria. Illustrations of flowers, seed, ovaries and styles, habit, and geographical distribution for each species are given. Five native species, L. denticulatus (E. Drew) Greene (annual (0, 2n = 12), and L . tenlris Waldst. et Kit. (P, 0 , 212 = 12) were found in Canada. Chromosome numbers are reported for the first time for L . formosissimus, L. tnicrarzthlrs, and L. pinrzat~rs. Drawings of karyotypes and idiograms based on chromosome analyses are presented. Morphological observations made include style shape, pollen size and shape, seed size, number of flowers, length of standard, calyx index (length of calyx/length of calyx tube), length of peduncle, length of legume, length of petiole, and central leaflet index (leaflet lengthlleaflet width). Results of hydrocyanide tests on leaves of the native species were negative. The relationships of the different taxa are discussed and it is considered that both the North American and Old World species should be included in a single genus Lotus.
A thin-layer chromatographic study of fluorescent compounds present in native (L. denticulatus, L. formosissimus, L. micranthus, L. pinnatus, L. purshianus) and introduced (L. corniculatus, L. krylovii, L.pedunculatus, L. tenuis) Canadian species of Lotus has been carried out and relationships of the species have been determined on the basis of the coefficients of association of these compounds. Chemical identification of the compounds was not attempted, but test reagents indicated a number to be phenolics. The analysis supported the general taxonomic relationships of the species based on a morphological and cytological study. Of the native species, L. pinnatus and L. formosissimus were the most closely related, with a coefficient of association of 83.33. Lotus denticulatus, the only native species with a chromosome number of n = 6, in general showed lower coefficients of association with the n = 7 species. Of the introduced species, all of which belong to the L. corniculatus group with a basic chromosome number of 6, L. krylovii and L. tenuis had the highest coefficient of association, 75.86. Based on their coefficients of association, both of these diploid species were more closely related to the tetraploid L. corniculatus than to the diploid L. pedunculatus.
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