The Geography of Phytochemical Races

2.4 The Mediterranean Basin 55
Fig. 2.34 Compounds 119–124, alkaloids from Genista
Table 2.10 Pattern of occurrence of alkaloids in Southern European Genista (after Kirch et al.,
1995)
Location No. b Alkaloidsa Spar Lupa Lows Others
Corsica 24 15c 0 3 6
Elba 14 11 0 1 2
Sardinia 6 6 0 0 0
Liguria 8 0 4 1 3
Provence 9 0 0 7 2
a Spar = Sparteine type; Lupa = Lupanine type; Lows = Low alkaloid
content; Others = Other alkaloid types.
b No. =number of plants examined.
c Number of plants of each alkaloid type.
environmental, caryological, or lifestyle (reproductive mode) differences, indicating
the need for additional study. The signifi cance of results of this sort cannot be
assessed fully without information on those factors, as well as some indication of
evolutionary directions among the populations. The latter would require application
of molecular genetic techniques. Were such information available, it might be possible
to discuss the changes in alkaloid patterns in terms of differences in the wellknown
biosynthetic steps by which these compounds are formed.
2.4.4 Pistacia lentiscus (Anacardiaceae)
The following examples, starting with the pistachio, are concerned primarily with
variation in profi les of common volatile components of a number of aromatic plant
species native to the Mediterranean Basin. For the most part, the examples involve