The rare, endemic zinc violets of Central Europe originate from Viola lutea Huds

Floral structure and pollen morphology of two zinc violets (Viola lutea ssp. calaminaria and V. lutea ssp. westfalica) indicate their taxonomic affinity to Viola lutea

“…8; 9). As previously found by histochemical staining and analysis, the two zinc violets, V. tricolor from waste heaps and alpine V. lutea, possess more than 80% 4-aperturate pollen, and 5-and 6-aperturate pollen at low frequency (Hildebrandt et al 2006;Słomka et al 2010). Dwarf, degenerated pollen appeared sporadically in V. lutea ssp.…”

“…The argument about chromosome numbers is more difficult to dismiss. As discussed in detail by Hildebrandt et al (2006), if the blue zinc violet arose by autopolyploidization from V. tricolor, it would have resulted in a highly unstable species with irregular meiosis and reduced pollen viability. It is more likely that both zinc violets evolved from V. lutea by hybridization or mutations (structural chromosome or gene mutations) (Siuta et al 2005).…”

“…Using DNA sequencing of the ITS1-5.8S rDNA-ITS2, Hildebrandt et al (2006) found the two zinc violets to be closely related and to have strong affinity to V. lutea but not to V. tricolor. They suggested that both zinc violets are at best subspecies or even forms of V. lutea and therefore proposed the names V. lutea ssp.…”

Metallophytes and Metallicolous Vegetation: Evolutionary Aspects, Taxonomic Changes and Conservational Status in Central Europe

“…Taxonomy and biogeography of both species were controversially discussed in numerous publications (e. g. Schulz, 1912;Heimans, 1961;Ernst, 1974;Nauenburg, 1986; and others) within the last decades. A recent study (Hildebrandt et al, 2006) has shown close relationship of both taxa and with Viola lutea HUDS. The authors consequently propose the treatment of both taxa as subspecies (ssp.…”

Microevolution on Anthropogenically Changed Areas on the Example of Biscutella laevigata Plants from Calamine Waste Heap in Poland

“…We can mention here: ability to detoxify metals in protoplast or cell wall, as well as development of "r" reproductive strategies in some species of plants from the metal-bearing areas (formation of plants with a shortened life cycle and rapid entry into the generative phase). Numerous studies show that there are significant differences between populations in heavily contaminated areas and uncontaminated areas, which suggests the emergence of new ecotypes and even new subspecies [1,4,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18].…”