Chromosome numbers for 15 taxa of Hieracium s.lat. (including two taxa of Pilosella Vaill.) from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia are given and their metaphase plates are illustrated. Chromosome numbers are published for the first time for H. pannosum subsp. parnassi Nägeli & Peter from Greece (3x and 4x), and for an undescribed species of H. sect. Cernua from North Macedonia (4x). A new, diploid chromosome number was found in H. bracteolatum s.lat. from Greece.

Chromosome numbers of 17 taxa of Hieracium s.str. from Bulgaria, Greece, Poland and Romania are specified and their metaphase plates are illustrated. Chromosome numbers are published for the first time for H. engleri R. Uechtr. (4x), H. kritschimanum Mattfeld & Zahn (3x), H. latifolium Link (3x), H. tephrosoma subsp. amaurocranum Zahn (5x), as well as five undescribed species belonging to the H. lachenalii agg. (3x), H. rohacsense agg. (4x), H. vagneri agg. (4x), H. vranjanum agg. (4x) and H. wiesbaurianum agg. (3x), and a new hybrid between H. caesium s.lat and H. umbellatum (4x).

Chromosome numbers of 46 Hieracium L. and Pilosella Vaill. taxa from Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia are presented. Chromosomes numbers are given for the first time for Hieracium amphigenum Briq. 2n = 3× = 27, H. bohatschianum Zahn 2n = 4× = 36, H. borbasii R. Uechtr. 2n = 4× = 36, H. cernuum Friv. 2n = 2× = 18, H. hazslinszkyi Pax 2n = 3× = 27, H. mirekii Szeląg 2n = 4× = 36, H. polyphyllobasis (Nyár. & Zahn) Szeląg 2n = 3× = 27, H. porphyriticum A. Kern. 2n = 4× = 36, H. racemosum Waldst. & Kit. ex Willd. subsp. racemosum 2n = 3× = 27, H. scardicum Borm. & Zahn 2n = 4× = 36, H. sparsum subsp. ipekanum Rech. fil. & Zahn 2n = 4× = 36, H. sparsum subsp. peristeriense Behr & Zahn, H. sparsum subsp. squarrosobracchiatum Behr & al. 2n = 3× = 27, H. tomosense Simk. 2n = 4× = 36, H. tubulare Nyár. 2n = 4× = 36, H. werneri Szeląg 2n = 3× = 27 and Pilosella fusca subsp. subpedunculata (Zahn) Szeląg, as well as five species of Hieracium sect. Cernua R. Uechtr. not described to date and a hybrid between H. bifidum s. lat. and H. pojoritense Woł

Secretory ducts and cavities of roots and rhizomes are typical features of the Cardueae tribe in the Asteraceae family. We used light microscopy to analyze the anatomy of the subterranean organs of 21 species of 13 genera of the Cardueae, with particular attention to the secretory system, interpreted in taxonomic terms. The anatomy of secretory ducts varied greatly. A new measurement quotient, C1 [length of epithelial cells (longitudinal section)] and C2 [length of adjacent cells (longitudinal section)] was established. Different types of ducts are described based on type of development and the size ratios among epithelial cells. Detailed anatomical descriptions of the ducts are given, together with their occurrence in particular taxa. The simultaneous presence of various secretory ducts within a single species and their spatial position relative to other prominent anatomical features provide valuable characters for discriminating the studied Cardueae species. These analyses are of particular interest for identification of herbal drugs as, besides chemical analytical techniques such as chromatographic fingerprinting, light microscopy is a common method for purity controls and thus required in official pharmacopeias.

We used chromosome data to verify the taxonomic affiliation of specimens previously recognized as Brachyactis ciliata. All analyzed plants were diploids based on x = 7 (2n = 2x = 14), the basic number characteristic for Symphyotrichum ciliatum, allowing the examined species to be shifted from the genus Brachyactis to the genus Symphyotrichum sect. Conyzopsis. The chromosome number (2n = 2x = 14) for specimens of S. ciliatum from Poland is reported for the first time.

Chromosome numbers for 15 taxa of Hieracium L. s.str. from Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Poland, Romania

and Slovakia are given and their metaphase plates are illustrated. Chromosome numbers are published for the

first time for H. vagneri Pax s.str. (2n = 4x = 36), H. wiesbaurianum subsp. herculanum Zahn (2n = 4x = 36),

H. wiesbaurianum subsp. kelainephes Nyár. & Zahn (2n = 3x = 27), as well as for two undescribed species

of hybrid origin between H. umbellatum L. and H. wiesbaurianum s.lat. (2n = 3x = 27), and between H. sparsum

Friv. and H. schmidtii s.lat. (2n = 3x = 27), and for three undescribed species of the H. djimilense agg.

(2n = 3x = 27), H. heldreichii agg. (2n = 3x = 27), and H. sparsum agg. (2n = 3x = 27). Furthermore, the chromosome

numbers of two undescribed species of hybrid origin between H. umbellatum L. and H. wiesbaurianum

s.lat. (2n = 3x = 27), and between H. sparsum Friv. and H. schmidtii s.lat. (2n = 3x = 27) are given. A new,

tetraploid chromosome number is given for H. barbatum Tausch from the northernmost locality of the species

in Europe.

Chromosome numbers for 23 taxa of Hieracium L. from Bulgaria, Greece, Poland and Slovakia are given and their metaphase plates are illustrated. The ploidy level of 8 taxa was also confirmed by flow cytometry. Chromosome numbers are published for the first time for Hieracium bracteolatum subsp. koracis (Boiss.) Zahn (4x), H. marmoreum Pančić & Vis. (3x), H. ossaeum Zahn (3x), H. sartorianum Boiss. & Heldr. (3x), H. sericophyllum Nejčeff & Zahn (3x) as well as for five other undescribed species.

The rose flea beetle, RFB (Luperomorpha xanthodera Fairmaire 1888) is a new flower pest in Europe. In 2012, it was brought accidentally to central Poland. To search for this introduced species in the area adjacent to the site of the first finding, 29 plant species belonging to five botanical families (Lamiaceae, Brassicaceae, Asteraceae, Plantaginaceae, Crassulaceae) were monitored over a 3-year-long study (2016−2018). RFB were found on 11 herbaceous/ ornamental plant species (Lamiaceae, Brassicaceae, Asteraceae) along with feeding damage to the flowers. White mustard (Sinapis alba L., Brassicaceae), hyssop (L.), and Monarda spp. (Lamiaceae) were its most preferred host plants. In each season, RFB females preferred host plants which bloomed abundantly and vividly. However, among the examined plant species there was a large variation in the year-to-year RFB abundance. Over the examined period the RFB extended its abundance exponentially, and its population survived and established itself in the area. The general sex ratio of the beetles was strongly female biased. In the female pool, females with conspicuously swollen abdomens predominated. The results of our study provide more insight into RFB behaviour, its establishment and spreading into new areas. To support the evidence for the RFB risk factor as an agricultural/ horticultural pest, further research should focus on the beetles’ biology, reproductive tactics, larval host plant preference, larva-inflicted damage and harmfulness, the impact of the RFB on the native fauna, as well as its further local and distant migration propensity. Presently our knowledge about these aspects is still fragmentary.

The authors report the first discovery of diploid populations of Hieracium naegelianum Panč. subsp. naegelianum and H. naegelianum subsp. ljubotenicum Behr & Zahn., and give the first chromosome counts for H. cernuum Friv., H. gymnocephalum Griseb. ex Pant., H. sparsum Friv., Pilosella pavichii (Heuff.) Holub and P. serbica (F. W. Schultz & Schultz-Bip.) Szeląg from Macedonia and/or Montenegro. A diploid chromosome count for Hieracium renatae Szeląg is confirmed based on material from the whole distribution range of the species. An emasculation experiment showed that all the analyzed diploid Hieracium taxa reproduce sexually.

Somatic chromosome numbers are given for the following Taraxacum species: T. pieninicum, 2n=16; T. dentatum, 2n=24; T. fascinans, 2n=24; T. mendax, 2n=40; T. subalpinum, 2n=24; T. telmatophilum, 2n=24; T. cyanolepis, 2n=24; T. fulgidum, 2n=24; T. gentile, 2n=24; and T. undulatum, 2n=24. Chromosome numbers from Poland are published for the first time for T. dentatum, T. fascinans, T. mendax, T. subalpinum, T. telmatophilum, T. cyanolepis, T. fulgidum, T. gentile and T. undulatum.