VARIABILITY OF ISOZYME PATTERN, CHROMOSOME-NUMBER, AND LATEX COLOR AND COMPONENTS IN THE CLOSELY-RELATED PAPAVER-DUBIUM L AND P-LECOQII LAMOTTE IN CENTRAL EUROPE

The variability of nine different isozyme systems, chromosome number, colour of fresh and dried latex and presence or absence of meconic aci d was investigated in altogether 45 populations of Papaver dubium and P. lecoqii mainly from C Europe. It was found that P. dubium is hexapl oid with 2n = 42 chromosomes, has brown dried latex, and contains meco nic acid. P. lecoqii is tetraploid with 2n = 28 chromosomes, has red d ried latex, and lacks meconic acid. The two taxa can also be distingui shed by differences in three of the nine isozymes analysed, and are al most completely monomorphic for their respective isozyme pattern. It i s concluded that the two taxa, which cannot be reliably distinguished with morphological characters, should be treated as species. The resul ts are shortly discussed with reference to the ecology of the two taxa as colonizers of man-made habitats.