Morphometric analysis of Alaskan members of the genus Potentilla sect. Niveae (Rosaceae)

• Published in: Nordic Journal of Botany
• Main Author: Eriksen, Bente
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1997
• Subjects: Arctic; Nivea; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-1051.1997.tb00358.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1756-1051.1997.tb00358.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1756-1051.1997.tb00358.x

A morphometric study of Potentilla nivea, P unijlora, and P hookeriana, as well as the close relative of the latter, P furcata, has been carried out, and the quantitative data subjected to Canonical Discriminant Analysis. The four taxa belong to the arctic‐alpine section Niveae of Potentilla, and material for the analysis was collected in Alaska, U. S. A. The a priori defined groups are based on petiole hair type, the qualitative, and only, character traditionally used to distinguish taxa within Potentilla sect. Niveae. The hair types recognized previously by taxonomists have been vaguely defined, and the intraspecific variation of other morphological characters has never been discussed. Ordination by canonical discriminant analysis was performed to characterize mean differences among species, to obtain insight into group differences, and to estimate character weights from correlations between canonical variates and original variables. The four taxa differ significantly in the canonical analysis of six quantitative characters. Leaflet length, incision depth (length of leaflet teeth), and ovule number are shown to be the most important discriminators. A key to the four taxa, taking into account the intra‐ vesus interspecific variation, as well as character weights, is provided.