Morphometric study of some Salvia L. (Lamiaceae) species in Iran

Abstract

This study concerns the morphological studies in some Salvia L. (Lamiaceae) species in Iran. In order to elucidate the taxonomic status and morphological studies, 53 accessions of 12 Salvia species were collected from their natural habitats in Iran. A total of 17 quantitative and 13 qualitative morphological characters were selected as diagnostic characters in Salvia species through the use of numerical methods. The statistical analysis consisted of cluster analysis with Euclidean distance coefficient, factor analysis, descriptive analysis and variance analysis using SPSS V.20.0 software. The clustering results of quantitative and qualitative morphological characters showed five groups. Despite the high morphological similarity between S. nemorosa L. and S. virgata Jaq., these species were separated using qualitative and quantitative characters and factor analysis. Regarding cluster and factor analyses, S. spinosa L. and S. atropatana Bunge accessions displayed high morphological diversity. Based on these findings, morphological characteristics such as the features of the leaf, calyx, corolla, bract, stamen and style were considered to be the appropriate diagnostic characters in the taxonomy of the Salvia species studied.