A biometric study of Fritillaria montana Hoppe ex WDJ Koch s.l. (Liliaceae) shows a single polymorphic species, with no infraspecific taxa

The large amount of morphological variability within Fritillaria montana Hoppe ex W.D.J. Koch, a southeastern European species described from northeastern Italy, led to the creation of several further taxa: Fritillaria caussolensis Goaty & Pons ex Adoino from southeastern France, Fritillaria orsiniana Parl. from central Italy, Fritillaria intermedia N. Terracc. and Fritillaria pollinensis N. Terracc. from southern Italy. Aiming to test the taxonomic value of these taxa, a biometric study of both herbarium and living specimens of F. montana s.l. is carried out. A total of 22 morphological features were analysed and measured in 417 plants from 46 different localities, including loci classici of all the involved taxa. In addition, typical populations of F. montana, F. caussolensis, F. intermedia, F. orsiniana and F. pollinensis and also several other Italian populations resulted with 2n = 18 chromosomes. We also counted 2 n = 27 chromosomes in endotriploid cells of plants from Abruzzo. However, there is no clear-cut correlation between morphology and karyology. The biometric analysis, together with many observations on fresh material in the field, revealed that F. montana is a single polymorphic species with no infraspecific taxa.