Meiotic behaviour and pollen fertility in the seventeen Brazilian species of Adesmia DC. (Leguminosae)

The southern region of Brazil, especially Rio Grande do Sul State, is famous for its natural pastures. Many of the native legume species are potentially good forages. Among them are some of the 17 diploid (2n=20) species and one variety of Adesmia DC described for Brazil. Meiotic behaviour, meiotic indexes and pollen fertility were studied in 38 accessions of A. araujoi, A. arillata, A. bicolor, A. ciliata, A. incarta (including one tetraploid accession), A. latifolia, A. muricata, A. psoraleoides, A. punctata, A. reitziana, A. riograndensis, A. rocinhensis, A. securigerifolia, A. tristis and A. vallsii. For A. paranensis and A. sulina only pollen data were available. Meiotic behaviour was essentially regular in most of the accessions, with 10 bivalents (II) at diakinesis and metaphase I and regular chromosome segregation at anaphase and telophase I and II. Uni, tri and quadrivalents were sometimes observed at diakinesis and metaphase I as well as laggards and bridges at anaphase and telophase I a...