A numerical analysis of <i>Ephedra</i> L. based on reproductive features

Authors

  • Yong Yang State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 20 Nanxincun, Xiangshan, Beijing 100093

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3329/bjpt.v20i1.15464

Keywords:

Ephedra, Morphology, Cluster analysis, Principal coordinates analysis

Abstract

A numerical analysis of Ephedra L. was conducted based on 29 characters of reproductive organs. The results indicate that species are not grouped according to their geographic ranges, sect. Alatae is in one group, sect. Asarca excluding E. cutleri and E. viridis consists of a Eu-asarca group while sect. Ephedra plus E. cutleri and E. viridis of the traditional sect. Asarca make up a third expanded Ephedra group. The Old World sect. Monospermae including E. rhytidosperma, E. equisetina, E. nebrodensis, E. monosperma and E. procera was rediscovered in this study while those Himalayan endemic species (e.g. E. minuta, E. likiangensis, E. saxatilis, E. dawuensis and E. gerardiana) used to be grouped in the Old World sect. Monospermae are clustered together with sect. Scandentes including E. foeminea, E. ciliata, E. altissima and E. fragilis. This study further confirms that the adaptive seed dispersal syndromes of sect. Asarca have originated for not only once. Some new features are introduced as related to dispersal, e.g. weight and size of seeds, and nature and thickness of the outer envelope.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjpt.v20i1.15464

Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 20(1): 51-60, 2013 (June)

 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Abstract
166
PDF
125

Downloads

Published

2013-06-25

How to Cite

Yang, Y. (2013). A numerical analysis of <i>Ephedra</i> L. based on reproductive features. Bangladesh Journal of Plant Taxonomy, 20(1), 51–60. https://doi.org/10.3329/bjpt.v20i1.15464

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 1 (2013)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright on any research article is transferred in full to Bangladesh Association of Plant Taxonomists upon publication in Bangladesh Journal of Plant Taxonomy. The copyright transfer includes the right to reproduce and distribute the article in any form of reproduction (printing, electronic media or any other form). 

Creative Commons Licence
Articles in the Bangladesh Journal of Plant Taxonomy are Open Access articles published under the Creative Commons CC BY License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

This license permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. It is author's responsibility to obtain the permission from appropriate authority if figures are reused from a previously published document.