CHEMOTAXONOMIC VALUE OF ANTHOCYANINS IN PODALYRIA AND VIRGILIA (TRIBEPODALYRIEAE, FABACEAE)

Anthocyanin pigments responsible for purple and pink flower colours in the tribe Podalyrieae have been identified. The considerable variatio n in flower colour is not reflected in the chemical variation and the flower pigments are surprisingly conservative. Virgilia flowers always have the acetic acid esters of cyanidin-3-glucoside and peonidin-3-gl ucoside as major compounds, together with trace amounts of the coumaro yl ester of cyanidin-3-glucoside. Podalyria flowers invariably have th e rather more stable coumaroyl ester of cyanidin. The data support a c lose affinity between the two genera but also show that flower colour is only partially homologous.