Abstract: 5 species of Chinese Dendranthema were cytotaxonomically studied in this work. Some of the karyotypes of these species are reported for the first time. The results are shown as follows: D. indicum 2n = 2x = 18 = 16m+2st, 2n = 4x = 36 = 28m+6sm+2st; D. lavandulifolium 2n=2x=18=14m+4sm, 2n = 4x = 36 = 28m+6sm+2st; D. lavandulifolium var. seticuspe 2n= 2x = 18 = 12m+6sm; D. chanetii 2n = 4x = 36 = 20m+14sm+2st, 2n = 6x = 54 = 38m+ 14sm+2st; D. potentilloides 2n=2x= 18= 14m+2sm+2st; D. vestitum 2n=6x=54=38m+16sm. From these results, it may be seen distinctively that all these species have a common basic chromosome number x = 9, but some of them varied at tetraploid and haxaploid level. Com-paring the morphology of chromosomes of different polyploides, it is suggested that most of them are allopolyploid. Based on a synthetical study of these reults and external morphology as well as geographic distribution characters, the authors deduced that polyploidy is an univer-sal feature of the genus Dendranthema, and which play an important role in evolution of wild species of Dendranthema.

Key words: Dendranthema