Abstract
Foliar parameters of Ficus in Nigeria were subjected to quantitative analysis. The morphometric analysis is based on ten quantitative parameters of the leaves of species. Principal compound analysis produced six groups whose characters are described. Highly significant positive correlation exists between leaf length and leaf width, leaf length and lamina length, leaf length and petiole length, lamina length and lamina width. Negative correlation was observed between leaf width and leaf length/width ratio, petiole length and fruit length/petiole length ratio. The groups that emerged compared well with existing traditional classification with some sub-sectional discrepancies. Key words: Ficus, morphometric analysis, numerical classification.
Highlights
The methods of numerical taxonomy have been used in classifying many plants as well as interpreting results of taxonomic studies (Gomez-Campo et al, 2001; Chiapella, 2000, Sneath and Sokal, 1973)
Differences in leaf and fruit morphology between the three hundred and eighty-four individuals belonging to the thirty-one species of Ficus were examined for ten quantitative characters
The results show negative correlation between: leaf width and leaf length / width ratio, petiole length and fruit length / petiole length ratio
Summary
The methods of numerical taxonomy have been used in classifying many plants as well as interpreting results of taxonomic studies (Gomez-Campo et al, 2001; Chiapella, 2000, Sneath and Sokal, 1973). Cluster analysis produces a hierarchical classification of entities (taxa) based on the similarity matrix, while PCA is a second method used for reducing the dimensions of the original data. It determines the line through the cloud of points that accounts for the greatest amount of variation. The genus has followed several curious lines of evolution The taxonomy of this group is still puzzling, because of the extreme morphological variability and ambiguous boundaries between taxa. The present study deals with the analysis of morphological variation in relation to taxon boundaries and to evaluate characters that have been used for delimitation between species
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