Morphological contrasts betweenHedysarum spinosissimumssp.spinosissimumand ssp.capitatumwarrant recognition of separate species

摘要

The taxonomic status of the species complexHedysarum spinosissimumL. (s.l.) has been evaluated on the basis of the phenetic variation within and between populations. Twenty-five characters were measured on plants grown from seeds of 9 populations ofH.spinosissimumssp.capitatumand 12 populations ofH.spinosissimumssp.spinosissimumfrom the western Mediterranean basin. Data were analyzed by means of multivariate methods. Stepwise discriminant analysis led to conclusions similar to those derived from principal components analysis. The results are discussed from a systematic point of view. On the basis of vegetative and floral characters, numerical analyses supported two morphologically distinct groups of operational taxonomic units corresponding to the predominantly selfingH.spinosissimumand the mostly outcrossingH.capitatum.Key words:Hedysarum spinosissimumL., phenetic variation, morphological contrast, Mediterranean basin, multivariate analysis.