A numerical taxonomic study on the Genus salvia L. (Lamiaceae) in Turkey

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi, Biyolojik Bilimler Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2015

Öğrenci: DENIZ TIAMBENG

Danışman: MUSA DOĞAN

Özet:

Widely used a medicinal plant, Salvia L. is the largest genus in the family Lamiaceae, with over 1700 species found in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas. Within this genus, almost 100 species are recognized in Turkey. To date, however, no comprehensive infrageneric treatment of Salvia in Turkey exists. The objective of this study was to propose a more natural infrageneric classification of the genus Salvia in Turkey by using the numerical taxonomic approach developed by Sneath and Sokal in 1973. In this study, a total of 43 qualitative and quantitative macromorphological characters were described and measured from 96 taxa. Herbarium specimens collected in the field during the years 2005 to 2009 as part of the taxonomic revision of Salvia were used. UPGMA cluster analysis and Principal Coordinates Analysis (PCO) were performed to determine the phenetic relationships among Turkish Salvia species. Additionally, a Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was conducted to distinguish the most useful characters for the infrageneric delimitation of the taxa. All analyses were carried out using the MVSP (version 3.2) computer program. The results of the cluster analysis and PCO reveal five distinct infrageneric clusters under two major groups. Based on the PCA, 25 vegetative and reproductive morphological characters were found to be diagnostic for the delimitation of Salvia into the five infrageneric clusters. Furthermore, the results of this study are not wholly consistent with Bentham’s sections, but instead are more congruent with the findings of recent molecular phylogenetic studies.