GENETIC-RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN EUROPEAN AND SIBERIAN LARCH, LARIX SPP (PINACEAE), STUDIED BY ALLOZYMES - IS THE POLISH LARCH A HYBRID BETWEEN THESE 2 SPECIES

Thirteen populations of Larix decidua subsp. decidua and subsp. poloni ca, and three populations of L. sibirica were investigated by starch-g el electrophoresis. in the populations assayed 61 alleles at 17 loci w ere revealed. The allozyme data support the earlier observations about close relationships between these two larch species. Nei's genetic di stances between L. decidua and L. sibirica were relatively small (D = 0.057), however, almost five times larger, on average, than those betw een populations of the same species. Results obtained in this study di sagree with bobrov's hypothesis about the hybrid origin of the Polish larch and suggest a direct origin from the European larch.