Abstract: A cytotaxonomic study was made of 10 fern species belonging to 7 genera of Polypodiaceae from Yunnan, China. Seven new records (including one cytotype) were reported in this paper. The putative reproduc-tive manners were inferred from cytological characters and spore counting. The chromosome numbers were 2n=70 in Polypodiastrum mengtzeense, Lepisorus bicolor; 2n=72 in Polypodiode amoena, P. wattii, L. mac-rosphaerus, Lepidogrammitis rostrata, Drymotaenium miyoshianum, Tricholepidium maculosum, Phymatopteris oxyloba; and 2n=108 in P. trisecta. The reproductive type in P. trisecta is triploid apogamous while it is of the sexual diploid reproductive type in the other species of the genus Phymatopteris. Based on our study and previous data, the significance of chromosome number in phylogenetic study was discussed.

Key words: chromosome number, cytotaxonomy, Polypodiaceae, reproductive mode