Abstract
The genus Monochoria is represented in Sri Lanka by only two species, M. hastata and M. vaginalis. Of the two species M. vaginalis exhibits a high morphological diversity. A morphometric analysis was performed on the Sri Lankan members of the genus Monochoria to evaluate the morphological diversity exhibited by comparing 34 vegetative, anatomical and reproductive characters. Both cluster and principal coordinate analyses resulted in four clusters of which one corresponded to M. hastata, while M. vaginalis was divided into three phenetic groups indicating that the Sri Lankan M. vaginalis is a species complex involving more than one taxon. The length ratio of the lower spathe petiole to inflorescence stalk was identified as an informative character in delimiting the phenetic groups, a character that has not been considered before. Further, the occurrence of sub-palisade cavities that are filled with a red colored liquid in the leaves of two phenetic groups was a novel character for the genus as well as the family Pontederiaceae.Keywords: Monochoria vaginalis; Morphological data; Sub-palisade cavities; Principal coordinate anaysis.Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 24(1): 1322, 2017 (June)
Highlights
Verdcourt (1961) in his taxonomic treatment to African Monochoria, recognized M. vaginalis as a species and raised the varieties recognized under M. vaginalis to species rank, M. africana N
Since the Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) gives the distance between the OTU’s rather than the correlation between characters, this is suitable for a mixed character data, as it will not be distorted by binary characters as with Principal Components Analysis (PCA) (Cupido, 2003)
A plot of the first and second coordinates resulted in a separation similar to that obtained by the Cluster Analysis (CA)
Summary
Presl ex Kunth, M. hastata (L.) Solms, M. elata Ridl., M. africana N.E.Br., M. brevipetiolata Verdc., M. cyanea A comprehensive taxonomic treatment on Asian Monochoria by Wang et al (2004) recognizes five species, M. korsakowii Regel & Maack, M. hastata (L.) Solms, M. elata Ridl., M. valida G. The most recent taxonomic treatment on Sri Lankan Monochoria in the Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon (Dassanayake, 2000) recognizes only two species: M. vaginalis and M. hastata. Field studies recently carried out in Sri Lanka encountered M. vaginalis populations with distinct morphological characters and the results of a preliminary morphometric analysis by Udage and Yakandawala (2011) supported these observations. The present study was carried out with the aim of re-evaluating the patterns of morphological variation within M. vaginalis and to understand the species limits of the genus Monochoria in Sri Lanka
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