morphological evaluation of anchusa species (boraginaceae) in iran

Anchusa )Boraginaceae( includes weedy species in different habitats and cultivations and is composed of four species in Iran. Species delimitation is mainly based on features as zygomorphic or actinomorphic flowers, straight corolla tube and nutlet shape. In this project, morphological features of different accessions of Anchusa species were evaluated. Totally, 33 qualitative and quantitative morphological characters of 12 populations of four species were studied. Statistical analyses were done by SPSS ver. 19.0 Diagnostic value of different features in species delimitation was studied in order to provide an efficient identification key. Results indicated that adopted features were of taxonomic importance. Factor analysis revealed that two main factors had most effects. These factors were location of filaments, calyx length, middle leaf shape, location of anthers, shape of tube of corolla, length of corolla, and diameter of hair tubercles. A new identification key based on obtained results was provided. This was the first morphometric study of Anchusa species in Iran.