Morphometric analysis of Desmodium Desv. in Bangladesh

摘要

Phenetic analysis based on morphological characters is presented for 14 species of Desmodium Desv. inBangladesh. This study examines patterns of morphological similarity and variation within Desmodium using36 floral and vegetative characters. D. heterophyllum shows highest similarity with D. triflorum among thespecies employed. UPGMA dendrogram is constructed based on cluster analysis which reveals two majorclusters, the first of which consists of seven species while the second cluster comprises six species, and D.microphyllum is found far from all other species. The presence of winged petioles distinguishes D. alatumand D. auriculatum from the other species. The present study shows the application of morphometric analysisfor understanding the phenetic relationships among the species of Desmodium.