Abstract
The study investigated the leaf architecture and petiole anatomy of eight Dipterocarpus (Dipterocarpaceae) species growing in Mount Makiling Forest Reserve (MMFR) in the Philippines to delineate the species, especially during their non-flowering phase. Leaf and petiole samples from MMFR were examined following the manual on leaf architecture studies. Freehand technique was used to examine the stomata and petiole characters. A UPGMA phenogram was then generated to determine the relationships among Dipterocarpus species using 26 leaf and petiole characters. The most useful characters to delineate Dipterocarpus species are the presence of trichomes, the arrangement of vascular bundles (medullary and outer vascular bundles), areolation, fimbrial vein, and leaf size. Other characters viz., the laminar ratio, blade class, laminar shape, base shape, margin type, and intersecondary, and layers and shape of parenchyma and collenchyma cells were useful as unifying characters. Therefore, certain characters of the leaf architecture and petiole anatomy may be used as taxonomic markers to delineate and correlate the Dipterocarpus species in the Philippines particularly during the nonflowering phase of the species. However, further investigations using samples from the wild populations of the species and molecular techniques may be done to elucidate the taxonomic use of the characters presented in this study.
 Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 27(1): 1-14, 2020 (June)
Highlights
Leaf characters are considered as important morphological features for taxonomic studies (Swaminathan et al, 2012)
Results of the ANOVA revealed that Philippine Dipterocarpus species are statistically variable in their leaf architecture and petiole anatomy
Additional four clusters were observed: (1) D. gracilis and D. kerrii with similarity level of 84.84%, (2) D. validus and D. kunstleri with 78. 05%, (3) D. philippinensis and D. alatus with 71.80%, and (4) D. hasseltii was separated from the other members of the genus with a similarity of 71. 57%
Summary
Leaf characters are considered as important morphological features for taxonomic studies (Swaminathan et al, 2012). These include leaf architectural characters, venation patterns (Pulan and Buot, 2014), and petiole anatomical characters (Ruzi et al, 2009; Solereder, 1908). Some of the leaf architectural characters such as leaf areolation, apex, shape, and size have already been described as good taxonomic markers for the description and identification of Shorea species (Dipterocarpaceae) in the Philippines and eastern Himalayas (Khan et al, 2016; Pulan and Buot, 2014). The taxonomic importance of the petiole anatomy in the genus Cinnamomum Blume (Lauraceae) was described as useful in the species identification (Abeysinghe and Scharaschkin, 2019)
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