Salix transect of Europe: variation in ploidy and genome size in willow-associated common nettle Urticadioica L. sens. lat. from Greece to arctic Norway

摘要

BackgroundThe common stinging nettle, Urtica dioica L. sensu lato, is an invertebrate "superhost", its clonal patches maintaining large populations of insects and molluscs. It is extremely widespread in Europe and highly variable, and two ploidy levels (diploid and tetraploid) are known. However, geographical patterns in cytotype variation require further study.