Abdel Aleem Bello(1) , Nizar Issa (2), Khaled Mawardi(3) and Aline Batch *(1)
(1).Dept. of Plant Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria.
(2). Dept. of Animal Biology, Faculty of Science, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria.
(3). Dept. of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria.
(*Corresponding author: Aline Batch, E-Mail: alinebatch@hotmail.com, Tel: 0944826295)
Received: 24/08/2024 Accepted: 5/02/2025
Abstract:
Apiaceae is one of the very important and large family in the plant kingdom, and it is one of the leading families in Syria. The current study Was done in 2024 aimed to evaluate the morphological and anatomical traits of the fruits and use them to develop a new taxonomic key for the Apiaceae species widespread in Aleppo. The study relied on unified Carpological characteristics, and the data was analyzed using a matrix (database) consisting of 16 procedural classification units that included 31 traits. The cluster study was carried out using hierarchical cluster analysis in SPSS version (25), and a Dendrogram was obtained based on the euclidean distance between taxonomic units. The study included fruits of 16 species: Anthriscus caucalis, Scandix pecten-veneris, Scandix iberica, Scandix verna, Torilis nodosa, Torilis tenella, Torilis leptophylla Var. erythrotricha, Conium maculatum, Coriandrum sativum, Helosciadium nodiflorum, Ammi majus, Visnaga daucoides, Malabaila graveolens, Malabaila secacul, Tordylium cordatum, Tordylium trachycarpum. The results showed that the species separated into two clusters. The first cluster included of Scandix spp., which are distinguished by its very long beak. The second cluster included 7 subclusters, A.nthriscus caucalis was isolated alone in a subcluster close to the first cluster, also C. maculatum and C. sativum, each of which was isolated in a separate subcluster. Tordylium species were occupied a subcluster, as were species of the genus Malabaila. There was a separate subcluster for Ammi species, and H. nodiflorum. The largest euclidean distance was between S. pecten -veneris and A. majus with a value of 581, the shortest euclidean distance of only 2 was between T. tenelle and T. leptophylla, and no distance was shown between the two Malabaila species, and also between the two Tordylium Species. The study showed that morphological and anatomical characteristics of the Apiaceae fruits plays a very important role in separating and distinguishing genera, and may contribute less significantly to species distinguishing.
Keywords: Apiaceae, Carpological characteristics, Cluster Analysis, Morphology, Anatomy, Aleppo.
Full Paper in Arabic: pdf