Contribution of leaf morphometrics in the study of genetic entries in Salix L

The use of leaf morphometrics in Salix was investigated at three genetic entry levels: species, family and clonal (progeny genotype). Data for seven leaf parameters, were collected from four full-sib Salix eriocephala and three S. exigua families. Principal component analysis, multivariate analysis of variance and discriminant analysis showed that most of the variation was resolved in low multidimensional space. Leaf and stipule shape parameters emerged as most important variables. Separation at the family level was partially achieved in a tri-dimensional ordination of the major axes in both principal and discriminant space. Interspecific distances were 21 times greater than intraspecific ones on the average, indicating very good separation of S. eriocephala from the taxonomically troublesome S. exigua. A maternal effect at the family level was detected by all analyses, while discrimination at the clonal level was not possible.