CHOMOSOME NUMBER OF Lippia gracilis Schauer (VERBENACEAE) FROM RIO GRANDE DO NORTE, BRAZIL

The genus Lippia (Verbenaceae) comprises about 200 species of pantropical distribution. Lippia gracilis Schauer, popularly known as the mountain balm, is an aromatic plant, native of northeastern Brazil, used in folk medicine as an antiseptic and to treat dermatitis. Although cytogenetic serve as a tool in taxonomy rate, cytogenetical studies of genus Lippia are restricted. Given the above, the present study aimed to determine, at the first time, the chromosome number of copies of L. gracilis, and thereby contribute to a better taxonomic understanding of this genus. In this sense root tips collected from newly planted specimens were pre-treated with a solution of 2mM 8-hydroxyquinoline for 4 hours, fixed in Carnoy 3:1 (ethanol: acetic acid) for 24 hours and stored in the same fixative for later analysis. The roots were hydrolyzed in 5N HCl for 20 minutes and the slides, prepared by squashing in acetic acid (45%) and stained with 2% Giemsa. The best metaphases were photographed and pointed to the chromosome number 2n = 24. Moreover, were observed metacentric and submetacentric chromosomes. Because there are several chromosome numbers in the genus, from n=10 to n=30, and as the same is little known cytogenetically, f more comprehensive cytogenetic studies are necessary, involving a larger number of species, so these data may help to clarify taxonomic inconsistencies in the family Verbenaceae.