Numeric taxonomy of some Apioideae species, based on general morphology and carpological features

Magdy M Mourad,Abdelsalam Al-Nowaihi

doi:10.5252/a2013n2a9

Abstract

The gross morphology as well as fruit morphological and anatomical characters of twenty four taxa of subfamily Apioideae was investigated to show their taxonomic location as compared to Drude's classification (1898). The classification of the studied taxa is summarised as follows: 1) Pimpinella L. of Drude's tribe Ammineae is segregated alone in a separate branch; 2) some of the genera of tribe Ammineae namely Ammi L., Apium L., Petroselinum Hill, Ridolfia Moris and Carum L. are agglomerated in subgroup I of group I; 3) Chaerophyllum L. of tribe Scandicineae subtribe Scandicinae, Torilis Adans. of tribe Scandicineae subtribe Caucalinae and Cuminum L. of tribe Ammineae are separated in the form of separate branches from subgroup I of group I; 4) Bifora Hoffm. and Coriandrum L. of tribe Coriandreae are also separated together in subgroup II of group I; 5) Anethum L. of tribe Ammineae and Malabaila Hoffm. of tribe Peucedaneae subtribe Tordyliinae are clustered with Foeniculum Mill. of tribe Ammineae in subgroup III of group I; 6) Daucus L. of tribe Dauceae and Pseudorlaya (Murb.) Murb. of tribe Scandicineae subtribe Caucalinae are clustered together in group II; and 7) Deverra DC. species and Bupleurum semicompositum L. of tribe Ammineae are clustered together in group III. The obtained data were numerically analyzed by the NTsys-PC program package using the UPGMA clustering method.

Highlights

Apioideae are the largest and most taxonomically complex of the three subfamilies of Apiaceae, including many familiar and edible plants
A few recent studies have made important contributions to the study of micro-morphological and anatomical characters, fruit anatomy (e.g., Spalik et al 2001; Liu 2004; Liu et al 2006: Magee et al 2010). For this the present study aims at evaluation of the gross-morphology and the morphological and anatomical characters of the fruit for understanding the classification of the studied taxa of the largest and more complicated subfamily, the Apioideae
Fig. 4. — UPGMA phenogram based on 79 characters, illustrating the average taxonomic distance between the studied taxa of Apioideae

Summary

Introduction

Apioideae are the largest and most taxonomically complex of the three subfamilies of Apiaceae, including many familiar and edible plants. Comparison of the accounts of these treatments shows widely diverging opinions on the definition and composition of its tribes and subtribes These characters are distinctive and represented by the inferior 2-carpelled ovary, the schizocarpic fruits with two one seeded generally five-ribbed mericarps, the presence of carpophores, the presence of intrajugal oil ducts and vallecular vittae, extension of commissure, fruit wings and presence or absence of crystals. While such focus on fruit structure has been rejected by many (Heywood 1971; Theobald 1971; Cronquist 1982; Spalik et al 2001; Liu 2004; Liu et al 2006), the highly criticized century-old system of Drude (1898) remains the most commonly used treatment

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Results

Conclusion