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Phyton (Buenos Aires)
On-line version ISSN 1851-5657
Phyton (B. Aires) vol.81 no.2 Vicente López July/Dec. 2012
ARTÍCULO ORIGINAL
Leaf margin serration and its taxonomical significance in the genus Hibiscus
Márgenes foliares aserrados y su importancia taxonómica en el género Hibiscus
Bhat RB
Department of Botany, University of Venda, Tohoyandou, Limpopo 0950, South Africa. Tel.: +27-15-962-8144.
Address Correspondence to: Prof. R.B. Bhat, e-mail: bhatrb@yahoo.com
Recibido / Received 29.VII.2010.
Aceptado / Accepted 21.X.2011.
Abstract. Types of leaf margin serration were investigated in ten species of the genus Hibiscus. Types and frequency of serration varied widely from species to species, from common to occasional to rare. Leaf serration is an important taxonomical feature in Hibiscus.
Keywords: Hibiscus; Serration types; Taxonomy.
Resumen. Se investigaron tipos de dentado en márgenes de hojas de diez especies del género Hibiscus. Los tipos y la frecuencia de dentado variaron ampliamente de una especie a otra, y de común a ocasional o rara. El dentado foliar es una característica taxonómica importante en Hibiscus.
Palabras clave: Hibiscus; Tipos de dentado; Taxonomía.
INTRODUCTION
Morphological features are important in the proper identification of species and formation of natural groups. Detailed general morphological features of Hibiscus have been investigated very little. Te present investigation describes the diversity of serration types in Hibiscus about which there is practically no information. Te literature review reveals that leaf margin serration and its taxonomy has been investigated in the genus Abutilon (Bhat, 1999).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Live and herbarium specimens of Hibicus abelmoschus L., H. angulosus Stud, H. caesius Garcke, H. canescence Heyne, H. cannabinus L., H. ficulneus L., H. furcatus Foxb., H. lunarifolius Gray., H. micranthus L. and H. mutabilis L. were collected from diferent parts of India. Te materials were cleared following the method of Mohan Ram & Nayyar (1978). Serration paterns were recorded from thirty leaves of each species. Te characterizations of serration patterns followed Hickey (1973) and Hickey & Wolf (1975).
RESULTS
Serration types are determined by the shape of the basal side of the tooth vs. the shape of the apical side (Hickey, 1973). Te leaf margin configuration of ten Hibiscus species investigated fall under all sixteen categories viz. convex convex (CC), convex straight (CS), convex concave (CCe), convex acute (CA), straight convex (SC), straight straight (SS), straight concave (SCe), straight acute (SA), concave convex (CeC), concave straight (CeS), concave concave (CeCe), concave acute (CeA), acute convex (Ac), acute straight (AS), acute concave (Ace), and acute acute (AA). Te common serration types observed were straight straight (SS) and concave convex (CeC) (Table 1).
Table 1. Serration types in the genus Hibiscus.
Tabla 1. Tipos de bordes aserrados en el género Hibiscus.
CC = convex convex; CS = convex straight; CCe = convex concave; CA = convex acute; SC = straight convex; SS = straight straight; SCe = straight concave; SA = straight acute; CeC = concave convex; CeS = concave straight; CeCe = concave concave; CeA = concave acute; Ac = acute convex; AS = acute straight; ACe = acute concave; AA = acute acute; c = common; o = occasional; r = rare; - = not observed.
CC = convexo convexo; CS = convexo recto; CCe = convexo cóncavo; CA = convexo agudo; SC = recto convexo; SS = recto recto; SCe = recto cóncavo; SA = recto agudo; CeC = cóncavo convexo; CeS = cóncavo recto; CeCe = cóncavo cóncavo; CeA = cóncavo agudo; Ac = agudo convexo; AS = agudo recto; ACe = agudo cóncavo; AA = agudo agudo; c = común; o = ocasional; r = raro; - = no observado.
DISCUSSION
Serrations are pointed, with their axes inclined (i.e. at an oblique angle) to the trend (tangent) of the margin (Hickey, 1973). Out of sixteen leaf margin configurations recorded in dicotyledons (Hickey, 1973), all sixteen leaf margin configurations were observed in the genus Hibiscus. According to Hickey (1973), families and genera are often highly consistent in possessing one or two types of serration. Te present observations in the genus Hibiscus agree with determinations of Hickey (1973). Straight Straight (SS) and concave convex (CeC) serration were prominent and consistent in the group of species investigated, while Straight Straight (SS) was observed in almost all of them. Tese characters are of great taxonomic importance in the identification of plants at the species level.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author sincerely acknowledge the University of Venda, Tohoyandou, South Africa, for research facilities and Prof. J. A. Inamdar, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vdyanagar, India for sincere encouragement and research interest.
REFERENCES
1. Bhat, R.B. (1999). Leaf margin serration and taxonomy in the genus Abutilon. Phyton, International Journal of Experimental Botany 64: 63-65. [ Links ]
2. Hickey, L.J. (1973). Classification of architecture of dicotyledonous leaves. American Journal of Botany 60: 17-33. [ Links ]
3. Hickey, L.J. & J.A. Wolf (1975). The bases of angiosperm phylogeny: vegetative morphology. Annals of Missouri Botanical Garden 62: 538-589. [ Links ]
4. Mohan Ram, H.Y. & V.L. Nayyar (1978). A leaf clearing technique with a wide range of applications Proceedings of Indian Academy of Sciences 87: 125-127. [ Links ]