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Principal Component Analysis on Morphological Variation in the Saussurea nipponica Complex (Compositae)
Author(s) -
Im HyoungTak
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
plant species biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.419
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1442-1984
pISSN - 0913-557X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-1984.1987.tb00038.x
Subject(s) - biology , bract , subspecies , range (aeronautics) , botany , principal component analysis , variation (astronomy) , evolutionary biology , zoology , statistics , inflorescence , materials science , mathematics , physics , astrophysics , composite material
For the understanding of morphological differentiation and recognition of natural groups in the Saussurea nipponica complex, 440 individuals from 19 populations were examined, especially by using statistical methods. The variation range of 16 morphological characters within and between populations were analyzed not only separately but also synthetically by Duncan's multiple range test, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis. Of the 16 characters examined, characters concerning plant size (height and diameter of stem, size of involucre, etc.) and involucral bract (length of involucral bract and recurved part of involucral bract) are suggested to be important to recognize natural groups. Five groups are recognized by a complex pattern of the morphological characters. They can be defined multivariately as natural groups having indegenous habitat and distribution range, and considered as subspecies of S. nipponica.