Článek přestavuje taxonomicky problematický rod chrpa z čeledi Asteraceae. Jsou diskutovány současné pohledy na vymezení a vnitřní členění rodu založené na molekulárních znacích. Dále je popsána problematika hybridizace, která je v rodu velmi častá, a její souvislost s polyploidií (druhy stejné ploidie se často kříží za vzniku rozsáhlých a variabilních hybridních rojů, zatímco mezi ploidiemi je silná reprodukční bariéra).

Použitá a citovaná literatura:
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Centaurea is a taxonomically critical genus from the Asteraceae family. Current delimitation of the genus and its internal classi­fication based on molecular data are discussed. Hybridization and polyploidy are common in Centaurea. The frequency of hybridization depends on ploidy levels of the taxa (homoploid taxa usually hybridize easily and form extensive and variable hybrid swarms, while heteroploid taxa are reproductively strongly isolated).