Taxonomical implications of fruit and seed morphology in wild species of Diospyros L. (Ebenaceae) in Odisha, Eastern India
The family Ebenaceae exhibits a diverse array of characteristics and evolutionary histories. The members of the genus Diospyros L. are mostly dioecious and exhibit a great variation in their leaf, flower, fruit and seed morphology. These morphological variations often lead to ambiguity in species d...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Acta Biologica Slovenica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.uni-lj.si/abs/article/view/22558 |
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| Summary: | The family Ebenaceae exhibits a diverse array of characteristics and evolutionary histories. The members of the genus Diospyros L. are mostly dioecious and exhibit a great variation in their leaf, flower, fruit and seed morphology. These morphological variations often lead to ambiguity in species delimitation and misidentification in the genus Diospyros. As a pilot study, a detailed morphological and morphometric assessment was carried out in ten species of Diospyros growing wild in Odisha, Eastern India. Twenty (20) taxonomically important morphological characters of fruits and seeds were selected to study the similarity and variations among the taxa. The phenetic clustering divided the studied taxa of Diospyros into three groups at a cophenetic correlation coefficient (r) of 0.89, which provided insights into species differentiation and their closest taxonomic relationship. Moreover, the principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that the length of the calyx lobe and the size of the seed were significant in explaining the total variation among the studied taxa. The study came up with a dichotomous key and revealed the distinct morphological characters of fruits and seeds, contributing to a refined understanding of the Diospyros species complex. To clarify the taxonomic ambiguity, fruit and seed morphological characteristics provide an important tool for accurate species identification and enriching our understanding of the systematics of these specific Ebenaceae members.
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| ISSN: | 1854-3073 |