Discrimination between groups of tagasaste and escobon from the Canary Islands based on juvenile morphological characters

Abstract

Abstract A multivariate study based on juvenile characters from 55 germplasm accessions of Chamaecytisus proliferus (L. fil.) Link collected in the Canary Islands was carried out in order to critically assess the relationships among the seven morphological forms. Results showed that escobon of Southern Gran Canaria (C. proliferus (L. fil.) Link ssp. meridionalis J. R. Acebes) was the most distinct morphological form, with tall plants, very narrow leaves, and large internode lengths. This form, together with white escobon of Gran Canaria (C. proliferus ssp. proliferus var. canariae (Christ) Kunkel), was the fastest growing with a potential in agroforestry systems for subtropical regions. Results confirm previous ecogeographical studies that Gran Canaria is the island with the highest number of variants and where morphological differentiation is greatest. Also ecogeographical variation increases in the Canary Islands from west to east. The juvenile characters studied have taxonomic value and a key has been ...