Phenetic Analysis of Certain Taxa of Euphorbiaceae Grown in Egypt

Abstract

Euphorbiaceae is one of the major flowering plant families. ……...Macro- and micromorphological as well as vein architectural characters of 34 taxa of Euphorbiaceae (14 genera, 29 species and eight varieties) were investigated. The studied taxa were collected from natural habitats and from different botanical gardens in Egypt. The macro-, micromorphological characters and vein architectural aspects were considered diagnostic characters which facilitate the separation between the taxa under investigation. The sum of 346 attributes were numerically analyzed using NTsys-pc program (version 2.02). The resulted phenogram is discussed showing two outgroups and five major clusters. The present study recommends the separation of Andrachne aspera and Putranjiva roxburghii in two separate families; Phyllanthaceae and Putranjivaceae respectively