From standpoint of floristic division, Sichuan is located in the middle part
of Eastern Asiatic Region (Takhtajan 1978) or is the area where Sino-Himalayan Forest
Subkingdom and Sino-Japan Forest Subkingdom meet (wu 1979). Here exist many so-
called Arcto-Tertiary elements and newly originated species or races. In order to bring
the light the origin and differentiation of Eastern Asiatic elements, cytological investi-
gation on plants of this region are very significant. The materials of the following 5
species were collected on Mt. Emei in Sichuan Province. Voucher specimens are kept in CDBI.
1. Toricellia angulata Oliver var. intermedia (Harms) Hu
PMC meiotic examination revealed n = 12 at diakinesis (Pl. I fig. 9)
Toricellia, consisting of 2 spp., is endemic to Eastern Asiatic Region. Based on
our result along with the report of Toricellia tiliifolia (Wall.) DC. (2n=24) by Kuro-
sawa (1977), we argue that the basic chromosome number of Toricellia is 12. Many
authors, such as Airy-Shaw (1973), Dahlgren (1975, 1977), Takhtajan (1969, 1980),
Thorne (1983), have adopted Hu’s (1934) treatment erecting it as a monotypic family
Toricelliaceae. Its systematic position, whether closer to Cornaceae than to Araliaceae
or vice versa, has been in dispute. Cytologically it seems closer to Araliaceae, as shown
anatomically (Lodriguez 1971), because the basic chromosome number of Cornaceae s.
1. is x=11, 9, 8 (Kurosawa 1977), whereas that of Araliaceae is 12 (Raven 1975).
2. Cardiocrinum giganteum (Wall.) Makino
Somatic chromosome number, 2n=24 was determined from root-tip cells (Ph. I. fig.
8).
Cardiocrinum (Endl.) Lindl., consisting of 3 spp., is endemic to Eastern Asiatic
Region. C. giganteum (Wall.) Makino is distributed from Himalayan region to S. W.
China. The present report is in accord with the number reported by Kurosawa (1966)
who got the material from Darjeeling of India. However the karyotype of the present
plant is slightly different from that given by Kurosawa. In the present material, the
satellites of the 1st. pair of chromosomes and the short arms of llst. pair of chromoso-
mes are visibly longer than those of Kurosawa’s drawing (fig. 1, 2) The plants from
Yunnan, Sichuan and Hubei Provinces, named as C. giganteum var. yunnanense (Leit-
chtlin ex Elwes) Stearn, differ slightly from those of Himalayan region also in outer
morphological characters. The taxon needs both cytological and taxonomical further
studies.
3. Disporum cantoniense (Lour.) Merr.
PMC meiotic examination revealed n=8 at diakinesis (Pl. I. fig. 6)
This species is widely distributed from Himalayan region through Indo-China to
our Taiwan Province and Indonesia. Three cytotypes (2n=14, 16, 30) were reported for
the taxon including its variety, var. parviflorum (Wall) Hara, by various authors (Ha-
segawa 1932, Mehra and Pathamia 1960, Kurosawa 1966, 1971 Mehra and Sachdeva
1976a). Some authors consider D. pullum Salisb. and D. calcaratum D. Don as synonyms
of D. cantoniense. So D. cantoniense may be a species aggregate with different extreme
races. Sen (1973a, b.) reports that the somatic chromosome numbers of D. pullum
and D. calcaratum from Eastern Himalayan region are 14, 16, 28, 30, 32. He also
discovered that chromosome alterations in species of Disporum involve not only the num-
ber but the structure as well. He found that in species of Liliaceae where the reproduc-
tion is mainly vegetative, polysomaty often occurs. In China we have not only D. can-
toniense and D. calcaratum but also D. brachystomon Wang et Tang which is similar
to D. cantoniense var. parviflorum (Wall.) Hara. These taxa need further critical
studies.
4. Paris fargesii Franch.
PMC meiotic examination revealed n=5+2B (Voucher no. 112) or n=5 (Voucher
no. 62) at MI and AI (Pl. I. fig. 1. 4. 5.). This is the first report for the species. A
bridge and a fragment were also observed at AI.
Paris polyphylla Smith is extraordinarily polymorphic species. Hara (1969) re-
gards all chinese extreme forms, such as P. fargesii Franch., P. violacea Lévl., P. pube-
scens (Hand. -Mzt.) Wang et Tang, etc. as infraspecific taxa of P. polyphylla. Need-
less to say, the various races of P. polyphylla Smith in China need further critical stu-
dies and are good material for further study to understand the speciation.
5. Reineckia carnea(Andr.) Kunth
Reineckia is a monotypic genus endemic to Eastern Asiatic Region. In the present
material somatic chromosome number in root-tip cells is determined as 2n=38 (Pl. I. fig.
7). According to the terminology defined by Levan et al., the karyotype formula is
2n=28 m+10 sm. The length of chromosomes varies from 14.28 μ to 5.5 μ. The idiogram
given here (fig. 3) is nearly the same as that presented by Hsu et Li (1984). The same
number has been previously reported by several authors, Noguchi (1936), Satô (1942),
Therman (1956). The karyotype is relatively symmetrical (2B, accorling to the classi-
fication of stebbins 1971) in accord with the opinion of Therman (1956).
