Vol. 72 No: 5

Title:
A Chemotaxonomic Study of the Pelargonium (Geraniaceae) Species and Their Modern Cultivars

Author:
M. LIS-BALCHIN

pp: 791-796

Abstract:
The pattern of alkaloids shown by thin layer chromatography was studied in extracts of representative species of Pelargonium (Geraniaceae). The alkaloids in the modern cultivars P. × hortorum (Bailey), P. × domesticum (Bailey) and P. peltatum (L'Heritier) cultivars were included in the study. The alkaloid pattern in P. × hortorum cultivars reflected those in the Ciconium section, namely P. zonale, P. inquinans, P. scandens and P. frutetorum; hybrid ivy-leaf × zonal cultivars also had a similar pattern. P. × domesticum cultivars had no detectable alkaloids, similar to their presumed parents P. cucullatum and P. capitatum. The ivy-leaf cultivars and P. peltatum also lacked alkaloids. The results support the accepted different origins of the three groups of cultivars. Traces of alkaloids were also detected in roots of P. antidysentericum ssp. inerme (but not ssp. antidysentericum) in P. radulifolium roots, and P. carnosum leaves, whilst species in all other sections except for 50% of the Ciconium section were negative.

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