Chromosome number and karyomorphology of some species of the genus Desmodium Desv. and its related taxa, viz. D. concinnum DC. var. retusum (D. Don) H. Ohashi, D. heterocarpon (L.) DC. var. heterocarpon, D. laxiflorum DC., D. microphyllum (Thunb.) DC., D. podocarpum subsp. oxyphyllum var. mandschuricum Maxim., D. podocarpum DC. subsp. podocarpum and D. triflorum (L.) DC., Butea minor Buch.-Ham. ex Baker, Crotalaria cytisoides Roxb. ex DC. and Piptanthus nepalensis (Hook.) D. Don collected from different climatic regions of Nepal were observed. The basic numbers of chromosomes in Desmodium species was 11. It was recorded to be 9 in B. minor and P. nepalensis, and 8 in C. cytisoides. The chromosomes of the genus Desmodium were mostly medium and small in length throughout except in D. podocarpum. In D. podocarpum, B. minor, C. cytisoides and P. nepalensis chromosomes were large and medium. Desmodium Desv., Butea Koen ex Roxb., Crotalaria Linn. and Piptanthus D. Don. belonging to the family Papilionaceae Giseke. show remarkable diversity in morphological characters. Twenty-six species of Desmodium, 2 species of Butea, 19 species of Crotalaria and 1 species of Piptanthus are distributed in different geographical areas of Nepal (Press et al. 2000, Anonymous 1986). Piptanthus nepalensis is a cold temperate and sub-alpine plant. Remaining 3 genera are widely distributed in tropics and sub-tropics of the world. Economically the plants under study come under one of the most important families of flowering plants. Fourteen species of the family are endemic to Nepal (Shrestha and Joshi 1996). The chromosome counts and/or karyomorphology of some species of the genera under present study have been reported previously (

Cytotaxonomy of Smithia ciliata Royle, collected from Panighat (1700 msl), Kathmandu valley, is reported. The somatic chromosome number was found to be 2n = 38 with the basic number being n = 19.  Karyotype structure is predominated with medium sized chromosomes and with median constrictions. Key-words: chromosome count; karyotype; meiosis.DOI: 10.3126/botor.v6i0.2921 Botanica Orientalis - Journal of Plant Science (2009) 6: 111-113

This paper reports studies of meiotic behaviors of seventeen species, sub-species and varieties in seven genera of the Nepalese Papilionaceae and new chromosome numbers for three species (Crotalaria cytisoides Roxb. ex DC (n=8), Parochetus communis Buch-Ham. ex D. Don (n=8) and Piptanthus nepalensis (Hook.) D. Don. (n=9, 18) are new number reports. Meiotic behaviors are often normal in all the species). However, a few aberrations like univalents, chromosome bridges, laggards, precocious chromosomes and/ or cytomixis have been observed in most of the taxa. Pollen fertility is high (more than 80%) indicating that the abnormalities had not reached mature stages.J. Nat. Hist. Mus. Vol. 26, 2012: 68-79

Previous and present chromosome counts of 10 Nepalese taxa within 7 families viz. Amaryllidaceae, Asteraceae, Caricaceae, Leguminosae, Nyctaginaceae, Passifl oraceae and Scrophulariaceae are reported here. Diploid or haploid chromosome numbers of the taxa collected from the local gardens of Kathmandu are n=15 in Agapanthus africanus (L.) Hoffmanns (Amaryllidaceae); 2n=48+3B in Allium tuberosum Rottler ex Spreng. (Amaryllidaceae); 2n=18 in Artemisia indica Willd. (Asteraceae); 2n=27 in Carica papaya L. (Caricaceae); 2n=16 in Cicer arietinum L., 2n=14, 21 in Pisum sativum L., 2n=12 in Vicia faba L. (Leguminosae); 2n=28 in Bougainvillea glabra Choisy (Nyctaginaceae); 2n=18 in Passiflora edulis Sims. (Passifloraceae) and 2n= 34 in Bacopa monnieri (L.) Pennel (Scrophulariaceae) in the present research. Of these, the chromosome count of Bougainvillea glabra in this research is perhaps the new report. The reports of chromosome number in Artemisia indica, Carica papaya and Bacopa monnieri in the present investigation are confirmed to be different from the previously reported numbers for these taxa. The chromosome number of Agapanthus africanus, Allium tuberosum, Cicer arietinum, Passiflora edulis, Pisum sativum, Vicia faba in the present research tally with the previous reports. The present counts in Bacopa monnieri, Carica papaya and Passiflora edulis are new records for Nepal.J. Nat. Hist. Mus. Vol. 28, 2014: 18-33

The paper deals with cytotaxonomical accounts of the two varieties of Desmodium heterocarpon (L.) DC such as var. strigosum and var. heterocarpon collected from Nepal. Somatic chromosome number of both the varieties was found to be 2n=22. Smaller chromosomes with median constrictions predominated in both the cases. The slight differences in relative and absolute lengths between the karyotypes of the two varieties have been recorded.Key word: Varieties; Cytological analysis; Camera lucida; Abnormal stucture.Journal of Natural History Museum Vol. 24, 2009 Page:  130-136