Numerical taxonomic studies of some members from four tribes of the family Araceae in south western Nigeria

Abstract

Sixteen taxa belonging to four tribes in the family Araceae were grouped based on numerical data generated from the coding of 16 morphological and 44 anatomical characters with the aim of inferring phenetic relationships among them. The data from these two fields of evidence were subjected to Paired Group Cluster Analysis (PGCA) and Principal Components Analysis (PCA). From the results, two groups emerged. The first group consists of members of genera Alocasia, Colocasia and Xanthosoma which are acaulescent herbs in that their stem(s) are subterranean and are also corm producers while the members of genera Aglaonema and Dieffenbachia which are caulescent herbs exhibiting decumbent character and non-corms producers constitute the second group. Twenty-nine (29) characters comprising of 15 morphological characters and 14 anatomical characters had high component loadings and can be employed in the delimitation of the taxa. The importance of these characters in the delimitation of the Araceae taxa was discussed.