| Abstract: | The present study reports the chromosome number of 12 accessions belonging to 10 species of Salvia from the Sichuan Province in China. Most accessions have the chromosome number 2n=2x=16. However, three species ( S. evansiana, S. przewalskii and S. brevilabra ) are tetraploid with a chromosome number of 2n=4x=32. A B-chromosome was observed in S. tricuspis . The basic chromosome number x=8 was inferred for all accessions studied. The chromosome number of all the species was determined for the first time, except for S. evansiana, S. przewalskii , S. flava and S. miltiorrhiza . The chromosomes in this genus are mostly small (0.46–2.94 μm). The small size of the chromosomes, together with their unclear centromeres, has hampered a detailed karyotype analysis. |
