A first approach on morphometrics studies of Salvia fruticosa found in Greece

Salvia fruticosa Mill. is a member of Lamiaceae, a widespread family of high importance for essential oils and pharmaceutical as well as ornamental use.
The present study was conducted to test quantitative and qualitative morphological traits in order to find a set of suitable descriptors for distinguishing individuals with special ornamental characteristics that could be the initial plant material for breeding programs and clonal propagation of plants to be introduced to the floricultural industry.
Morphological characteristics were used to study individuals of four different accessions (SfH, SfH1L, SfH2Κ, SfH3T) that were collected in their natural habitat in mount Ymittos, prefecture of Attiki, Greece.
A total of 12 qualitative and six quantitative characters were selected and used based on descriptors for other plant species and their variability in different accessions.
The first group of characters involved characters of vegetation (leaves and stem), flowers and fragrance.
The second group involved leaf morphometrics that counted by a portable leaf scanner (length, width, perimeter, area, ratio and shape factors.
NTSYS-pc v2.11f was used for statistical analysis, cluster analysis was conducted with the Unweighted Pair Group Method based on Arithmetic Average (UPGMA), using the Square Euclidian Distance coefficient, and the dendrograms were generated based on the genetic distance matrix.
One-way ANOVA was used for determination of the differences between the mean values of the leaf traits.
Cluster analysis separated the individuals according to their morphological characteristics in two branches.
SfH(2)K were found to be distinct from other three individuals.
SfH(3)T was found to be closer to SfH(1)L than SfH. The present study revealed morphological traits to differentiate S. fruticosa individuals from different accessions aiming to facilitate their clonal propagation and exploitation for ornamental or pharmaceutical use.
The applied characteristics could be a basis for the development of a complete list of discriminating characteristics for S. fruticosa.

IV International Symposium on Horticulture in Europe – SHE2021

Κ.F. Bertsouklis, A.N. Martini, G. Vlachou, E. Dariotis, M. Papafotiou

dendrogram, descriptor, leaf trait, morphological trait, qualitative character, quantitative character

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2021.1327.12