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Four populations of Betonica bulgarica Degen et Neič. at Sinite Kamani Natural Park were morphologically tested. Intrapopulation and interpopulation variabilities were established. The rеlationship between morphological variability, number, area and ecological appurtenance of the studied populations were explored. The results demonstrated that the main source of phenotype variation is intrapopulation variability, mainly due to the age structure of populations. The most variable traits are height of stem and dimensions of leaves. The registered interpopulation variability was affected by the differences in altitude, soil type and differences in environmental conditions and soil properties. Indumentum and morphology of generative organs had taxonomic significance for distinguishing B. bulgarica from the other species in the genus, including the species that were morphologically most similar to it - Betonica officinalis L.

The karyological and morphological variability of species from the genus Dysphania were studied. The results demonstrated that genus Dysphania is represented in Bulgaria by five species: Dysphania ambrosioides, D. multifida, D. botrys, D. schraderiana and D. pumilio. The first two species are tetraploids with chromosome number 2n = 32 for D. ambrosioides and 2n = 36 for D. multifida. The remaining three species are diploids with 2n = 18. The results from statistical analysis demonstrated that the main source of phenotype variation in the species is the interpopulation variation. The specific characters which allowed their recognition are themorphological characteristics of the perianth lobes, the upper leaves and the seeds. The distinction between D. multifida, D. ambrosioides and D. schraderiana is based on differences in the quantitative traits, while in D. botrys and D. pumilio qualitative traits are also important. The basic evolutionary mechanisms are polyploidy and diploidy.Atendency towards reduction in the size of generative organs and the number of perianth lobes was found.