Estudio comparativo del cariotipo en especies de Miltinea Ravenna, Phycella Lindl. y Rhodophiala C. Presl (Amaryllidaceae) de Chile

the family amaryllidaceae is widely distributed in chile and south america. ravenna recognized 11 genera and at least three of them have ornamental value: miltinea ravenna, endemic to chile consists of only one species, miltinea maulensis (ravenna) ravenna; phycella lindley, endemic to chile, consisting of four species, distributed from the elqui valley in northern chile up to the arauco region in the south, and rhodophiala c. presl. distributed in southern brazil, uruguay, bolivia, argentina and chile with about 40 species. currently, traditional taxonomic information is insufficient to differentiate the genera of amaryllidaceae in chile. for this reason cytotaxonomy was used as a source of taxonomic evidence. the objective of this research was a comparative study of the karyotypes of the three amaryllidaceae genera growing in chile in order to clarify their taxonomic position. the studied species were: miltinea maulensis (ravenna) ravenna, phycella australis ravenna, rhodophiala araucana (phil.) traub, rhodophiala montana (phil.) traub, and rhodophiala pratensis (poepp.) traub. the results indicated that miltinea maulensis and phycella australis have very similar karyological characteristics: same chromosome number, chromosome karyotype formula, and indexes. karyological evidence supports the hypothesis that miltinea is a synonym of phycella. further on, the three species of rhodophiala show similar cytological features, such as the presence of a nor region on the long arm of chromosome 7, the same chromosome number, and a nearly equal index of karyotype asymmetry.