Conclusions
Based on the presented sequence analyses, our sequences of Tulipaspecies grouped into two main clades, belonging to the subgeneraEriostemones or Tulipa . There is not sufficient genetic
evidence to confirm species of the T. scardica complex (T.
scardica, T. serbica, T. albanica, T. kosovarica and T. luanica )
as independent taxa. Despite the lower resolution of thetrnL-trnF dataset, it does not support the separation of the taxa
related to the T. scardica complex as independent species too.
Genetic differences between taxa of the T. scardica complex show
intra-specific variation, indicating the presence of polymorphism in the
gene pool. Further analysis with more extensive sampling, using
additional markers, as well as the determination of nuclear genome size
(used DNA 2C-values) will be necessary for better understanding of the
natural variability within the taxa of the T. scardica complex.