Digital Morphometrics: A Tool for Leaf Morpho- Taxonomical Studies

Leaves are most important part of the plant and canbe used for the identification of a taxon. An appropriateunderstanding of leaf development in terms of shape andresponsible abiotic factors is necessary for improvement in plant.Leaf shape variation could be evaluated successfully, and thesymmetrical and asymmetrical elements of the overall shapevariation could be detected. The aim of the present study was toestablish a quantitative analysis method of leaf shape by ellipticFourier descriptors and principal component analysis (EF-PCA).EF-PCA describes an overall shape mathematically bytransforming coordinate information concerning its contoursinto elliptic Fourier descriptors (EFDs) and summarizing theEFDs by principal component analysis. We can be able to extractsix variables by using leaf specimen images from field andherbarium specimens. In the present study, total leaf area withrespect to notch area is more variable within species. Within aspecies the major source of the symmetrical elements may begoverned by genotypic features and the asymmetrical elementsare strongly affected by the environment. We could discuss thevalue of morphometrics to detect subtle morphological variationwhich may be undetectable by human eye.