Morphological diversity and phenetic relationship of wild and cultivated Begonia based on morphology and leaf venation

Abstract

Abstract. Permata DA, Susandarini R. 2021. Morphological diversity and phenetic relationship of wild and cultivated Begonia based on morphology and leaf venation. Biodiversitas 23: 928-937. Begonia is an ornamental plant with intense cultivation and hybridization practices because of the uniqueness and beauty of its leaves. Begonia with a very large number of species is interesting to study, especially because Indonesia is one of the resource centers of this genus diversity as indicated by the increasing number of new species found every year. This study aimed to explore the morphological diversity of wild and cultivated Begonia and reveal the phenetic relationships of the species and hybrids based on morphology and leaf venation patterns. In this study, we used 19 Begonia samples belonging to five species collected from their natural habitat and 14 species and hybrids obtained from the nurseries. Morphological observations of living specimens and examination on microscopic slides of cleared leaf resulted in 28 characters which were used to determine phenetic relationships using cluster analysis. The high variability of leaf venation patterns described in this study disclosed the micromorphological diversity of Begonia which has not been widely exposed. The results of morphological observations showed high variabilities in leaf color, leaf shape, and petiole color. The results of cluster analysis and principal component analysis indicated that the grouping of species was mainly determined by the existence of trichomes on leaf surfaces and petiole, leaf venation pattern, leaf variegation, and leaf shape. The grouping of species resulting from cluster analysis can be used in the selection of potential parents to produce new Begonia hybrids through crossing experiments.