Phenotypic Diversity of Leaf Morphology for Machilus pauhoi
Abstract
Eighteen trees of Machilus pauhoi were collected to study leaf phenotypic diversity from 3 counties in Meizhou city. Five indicators were tested to describe foliage traits, including leaf area, leaf limb circumference, leaf length, leaf width and leaf length-width ratio. The results showed that there were significant differences in 5 phenotypic traits among eighteen trees, suggesting abundant diversity in leaf morphology of Machilus pauhoi. The variation coefficients of phenotypic traits were all above 20% and the order was: leaf arealeaf widthleaf lengthleaf limb circumferencelength-width ratio. Cluster analysis divided 18 trees into 4 groups. Group Ⅰ was a popular type, including Pingyuan 1、2、3、4、6、8、15、16、17 and 18. Group Ⅱ was a broad leaf type, including Pingyuan 9、14 and Fengshun 10、11、12 and 13. Meixian 5 and Pingyuan 7 were independently classified into Graups Ⅲ and Ⅳ, which were characterized by narrow leaf and large leaf, respectively.