Himalayas are globally important biodiversity hotspots and are facing rapid loss in floristic diversity and changing pattern of vegetation due to various biotic and abiotic factors. This has necessitated the qualitative and quantitative assessment of vegetation here. The present study was conducted in Sangla Valley of northwest Himalaya aiming to assess the structure of vegetation and its trend...

Theory predicts that tighter correlation between floral traits and weaker relationship between floral and vegetative traits more likely occur in specialized flowers than generalized flowers, favoring by precise fit with pollinators. However, traits and trait correlations frequently vary under different environments. Through detecting spatiotemporal variation in phenotypic traits (floral organ s...

The herbal medicinal genus Aconitum L., belonging to the Ranunculaceae family, represents the earliest diverging lineage within the eudicots. It currently comprises of two subgenera, A. subgenus Lycoctonum and A. subg. Aconitum. The complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequences were characterized in three species: A. angustius, A. finetianum, and A. sinomontanum in subg. Lycoctonum and compared to...

Species of the genus Aquilegia are exceptionally diverse in their floral morphology and color, commonly known as columbine. They are widely planted ornamentals and are highly attractive for hummingbirds. However, little is known about their genetic diversity. We examined the genetic diversity of the species and cultivars using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. Sixteen EcoRI...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized from Aconitum kusnezoffii (Ranunculaceae) to estimate male and female reproductive success and evaluate the effects of clonal growth on sexual reproduction. METHODS AND RESULTS A genomic enrichment approach was used to develop microsatellite markers. In three investigated A. kusnezoffii populations, a total of 19 microsa...

*University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Institute of Botany, Gregor Mendel-Strasse 33, 1180 Wien, Austria, and Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS), Archaeobotany, c/o Institute of Palaeontology, Geozentrum, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Wien, Austria; yUniversity of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Institute of Integrative Nature Conservation Research, Greg...