Myosotis spp. is nested within Boraginaceae family. It comprises about 100 species that grow in the temperate zones of both hemispheres. Forget-me-nots are known for their taxonomic difficulties, as they are polyploids that are closely related and morphologically very similar. In our study, we focused on the genetics of M. alpestris agg. and M. sylvatica agg. as previous studies caused confusion in both groups. The size of the pollen was measured on 48 samples and 66 samples from Slovenia and the border areas with Austria, Italy and Croatia were sequenced for analyses of the ITS region. The results showed the differences in pollen grain size: the mean value for M. sylvatica was 5,96 µm, for M. decumbens 7,11 µm and for M. alpestris agg. 7,40 µm. The study showed a genetic divergence between M. alpestris agg. and M. sylvatica agg. A clear genetic divergence was also found between M. sylvatica and M. decumbens species corresponding to the M. sylvatica group. Due to the lack of samples, no important genetic differences were found within the M. alpestris group, so that the analyses at group level could be maintained. Geographical analyses revealed large differences in the sequences within M. alpestris agg. while the sequences of M. sylvatica and M. decumbens showed only very small differences even between samples collected at different sites.
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