Abstract: The C banding patterns of five taxa of Paeonia delavayi complex from Yunnan prov- ince in China were analyzed using a modified BSG technique. Each taxon (species or variety or form) examined had a unique C-banding pattern with some common features present in each taxon. All taxa examined were diploid with 2n= 10. Each taxon showed C-bands at the centromeric regions and no C-band at the long arms of all ten chromosomes. There were differ-ences in the C-banding numbers and positions at the terminal regions of the short arms. The aver-age ratio of C-band length to total chromosome length in each taxon was approximately 10% as found in P.delavayi. These results suggest that the five taxa of P.delavayi complex are closely re-lated and may have a common ancestor.

Key words: Paeonia delavayi complex