Abstract: The present paper describes for the first time the karyotype of Dalbergia odorifera T. Chen, a medicinal tree endemic to Hainan (Guang dong), China. The plant is shown to have 20 somatic chromosomes (2n=20), two of which (the third pair) are submetacentric (sm), and all the others are metacentric (m) (Fig. 1-2). The voucher andits conservation are given.

Key words: Dalbergia, Dalbergia odorifera, Karyotype