Leaf epidermal characteristics of Lotus: subgenus Acmispon (Fabaceae: Loteae) and a numerical taxonomic evaluation

STENGLEIN S.A., ARAMBARRI A.M., COLARES M.N., NOVOA M.C. & VIZCAÍNO C.E.

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY

NRC CANADA

Año: 2003 vol. 81 p. 933 - 944

0008-4026

This paper describes the leaf epidermal characteristics of the New World species of Lotus L. subgenus Acmispon Raf. (Fabaceae: Loteae), computes the phenetic relationships based on morphological and anatomical characters, and compares these results with previous classifications and phylogenetic hypothesis. Leaves of 16 species of Acmispon were clared, and leaflet surfaces were examined using light microscopy. Data on epidermal cells, stomata, stomatal index, and trichomes were described and summarized. To test the taxonomic value of epidermal characters and to establish the phenetic relationships two numerical analyses were performed. Phenograms by the unweighted pair-group method (UPGMA) of clustering were generated. Results of the numerical analysis (16 OTUs x 13 epidermal characters) suggested that epidermal characteristics are insufficient to resolve all species and sectional relationships. An additional analysis (16 OTUs x 23 characters) demonstrated that epidermal micromorphological features, together with other characters, are useful and informative characters not only for species clustering but also for testing relationships among sections. Results generated by the latter analysis accord well with previous classifications and phylogenetic hypothesis.