With its wealth of plant diversity, Myanmar (Burma) constitutes a significant component of the Indo-Myanmar biodiversity hotspot with elements of the India, the Indochina, and the Sino-Japanese floristic regions (ca, 13,500 vascular plants: Van Dijk et al. 2004; Tanaka 2010). Yet, while neighboring countries’ floristic diversity has been exposed through international projects, such as Flora of China, Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam, and Flora of Thailand, thus far no reliable sources of Myanmar’s flora have been published except a checklist of spermatophytes contributed by Kress et al. (2003). In order to revise the flora of Myanmar, a decade-long continuous inventory has been conducted by Japanese botanists (Tanaka 2005), which thus far partly contributed a local checklist (Mt. Popa: Tanaka et al. 2006) and a taxon-specific checklist (aquatic plants: Ito and Barfod 2014).

The aim of floristic research is not only to count the total number of species but also to evaluate the native flora’s evolutionary origins by comparing with related floristic regions. From this aspect, it is useful to obtain as much information as possible, e.g., chromosome data (Sanders et al. 1983). This is especially important for floristic surveys for aquatic plants, in which infra- or inter-specific chromosome variation is widely known (Les and Philbrick 1993). The proportion of species for which the chromosome number is known is less than 1% in some little-collected tropical areas (Stace 2000), probably including the southeast Asian country of Myanmar.

Aquatic plants, which is polyphyletically evolved in fern and fern allies, basal angiosperms, monocots, and eudicots, is known as having numerous chromosomal variation, thus an excellent model for this aim. Here, in addition to the previous contributions of chromosome counts for new or noteworthy aquatic plants from Myanmar (Najas tenuis: Ito et al. 2014b; Nechamandra alternifolia: Ito et al. 2009), we present three more chromosome counts for the aquatic monocots of Myanmar: Limnocharis flava (Alismataceae), Sagittaria trifolia (Alismataceae), and Potamogeton distinctus × P. nodosus (Potamogetonaceae). A brief review of cytological researches in 45 non-hybrid aquatic monocots plus two well-investigated inter-specific Potamogeton hybrids in Myanmar is also given with a broad focus on those distributed in neighboring areas, i.e., the Indian, the Indochina, and the Sino-Japanese floristic regions.

The chromosome counts given for 45 non-hybrid species of aquatic monocots of Myanmar as well as well-investigated two Potamogeton hybrids among them were reviewed with a focus on infra-specific chromosome variation (Table 1). The cited literature references also include chromosome counts obtained from related floristic regions, i.e., the Indian, the Indochina, and the Sino-Japanese floristic regions. For widespread species, cytological information from other regions is cited.

Of 45 non-hybrid aquatic monocots and two interspecific hybrids among them, more than two thirds have no chromosome variation. Meanwhile, the following nine species have infra-specific chromosome variation, i.e., Acorus calamus, Cryptocoryne crispatula, Blyxa echinosperma, Hydrilla verticillata, Najas graminea, Ottelia alismoides, Vallisneria spiralis, Monochoria hastata, and M. vaginalis (Table 1). Among the cytologically variable aquatic monocots are A. calamus, O. alismoides, V. spiralis, and M. vaginalis, for which unique chromosome counts are obtained from each floristic region. Myanmar is known as including borders among the Indian, the Indochina, and the Sino-Japanese floristic regions (Tanaka 2010), yet in the aquatic flora, it is unknown which flora is more influenced. Future research with a focus on such species will address this issue.

Potamogeton is known as having numerous inter-specific hybrids, and each parental combination is varied from intra-ploidy crosses to inter-ploidy ones (Kaplan et al. 2013). The present study revealed P. distinctus × P. nodosus as another intra-ploidy hybrid of Potamogeton at tetraploid level.