Preliminary data on percentage between species and natural and naturalised Iris hybrid taxa present in Italy.

The evolutionry activity of seed plants can be tested also by the number of species of natural hybrid origin and natural hybrids present in a family and in a genus. In our first approach to the present investigation, we started the overview of the Iridaceae family in outlines by the number of taxa tha can be derived from a natural hybridisation. In Italy, there are many doubtful Iris taxa of possible hybrid origin, that represent a source of mistaken synonyms. Our preliminary results, here shown, concern the percentage of the estimated natural hybrids of the genus Iris L. This genus, considered to be at the top of the evolutionary trends of the Iridaceae, includes the highest number of natural hybrid origin taxa belonging to this family, and this datum is confirmed by biosystematic analysis results