Genetic similarity of Lilium brownii var. colchesteri in Japan and Korea

Genetic similarity of Lilium brownii var. colchesteri cultivated in Japan and Korea was investigated with 302 AFLP markers. Average, maximum and minimum genetic similarity value within the whole accessions of Japan and Korea was 0.9788, whereas those between them and one Chinese accession was 0.9477. The threshold similarity value for identification of clones was estimated to be 0.97 by the same method with 10 clonally propagated individuals of L. longiflorum 'Hinomoto' and referring previous reports. 90.2% of pairs within the whole accessions of Japan and Korea represented higher the values than the threshold. Excluding five individuals, 98.9% of pairs showed higher the values. The individuals of L. brownii var. colchesteri in Japan and Korea, therefore, are considered to be almost one clone, and the introduction of the lily into Japan seems to have been through Korean Peninsula.