Elionurus muticus is a native aromatic grass from the Pampa biome that produces an essential oil that is rich in citral. Despite the importance of citral, few studies have examined this species. The aims of this work were to evaluate the genetic structure and to characterize cytogenetically natural populations collected from Brazil. Genetic characterization was performed using AFLP markers, and cytogenetics assessed the chromosome number, karyotype and meiosis. The studied populations had genetic variability, especially within populations, indicating the possibility of selecting plants with relevant characters. High variability also suggests the preferential occurrence of outcrossing in natural populations. Regular meiosis was observed in the cytogenetic analysis with chromosome number 2n=20. The karyotype of the species is presented for the first time, with the karyotype formula 3sm + 4a + 1saSAT.
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