ROLE OF SEED MICRO-MORPHOLOGY IN THE TAXONOMY OF SAPONARIA (CARYOPHYLLACEAE)

Saponaria species are morphologically very similar so that their taxonomy has been a challenging subject for a long time. In order to clarify the taxonomy of the genus, materials deposited in the herbaria (TARI, IRAN and FUMH) of Iran were examined. Seed micro-morphology of 10 speceis of the genus Saponaria L. (Caryophyllaceae) were studied. Averag Linkage clustering filamentograms based on about 14 quantitative and qualitative traits were identified and coded to be very close to morphological cluster phonograms, and quantitative traits related to the seeds were carefully measured using the software, also PCA analysis was performed and the most variable characteristics were determined, including seed shape, cell shape and, cell margin shape, length to grain width ratio and length to cell width ratio. The micro-morphological characters of the seeds were evaluated as possible taxonomical characteristics of the species. Seed micro-morphology varied among the species and its taxonomic value was significant in distinguishing taxa at the species level.