Numerical Taxonomic Analysis of Stellaria and Pseudostellaria (Caryophyllaceae)

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  • 1College of Ecology, Lishui University, Lishui 323000, China;

    2College of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;

    3College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China

Received date: 2013-05-13

  Revised date: 2013-06-19

  Online published: 2014-08-08

Abstract

The phylogenetic relationship between the genera Stellaria L. and Pseudostellaria Pax. is a focus of attention. In this paper, we describe the numerical taxonomy of 30 species of Stellaria and Pseudostellaria with 51 morphological characters. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and UPGMA clustering analysis of NTSYS-pc (v2.10e) were used to analyze the generic relationships. Stellaria and Pseudostellaria form two distinct groups. All species were separated easily, except for S. media and S. neglecta. The results support a close relationship of Stellaria and Pseudostellaria, with S. wushanensis as the transitional type. Otherwise, P. sylvatica should be considered as an independent section. PCoA revealed that characters such as the form of the root, leaf margin texture, the form of flower (having a petal, petal length, petal lobes, lobed or deep lobed) and the seed coat (whether it has a cogwheel or is verrucose) play an important role in species delimitation.

Cite this article

Xubo Chen, Shiyong Meng, Xiaofei Zhang, Yuanbin Han, Quanru Liu . Numerical Taxonomic Analysis of Stellaria and Pseudostellaria (Caryophyllaceae)[J]. Chinese Bulletin of Botany, 2014 , 49(4) : 432 -439 . DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1259.2014.00432

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