Phenetic relationships among Lolium s.l. (Poaceae) in Iran based on flavonoids spot profiles and quantitative morphology

Relationships between species of Lolium and Festuca have long been an interesting subject in taxonomy of the subtribe Loliineae. This study was concerned with the phenetic relationships of Lolium s. l. (including Festuca subgen. Schedonorus) using flavonoids spot profiles and quantitative morphological characters. Measurement of morphological characters and densitometry of flavonoids spots and their profile plots were performed by using calibrated digital images and ImageJ software package. Multivariate analyses (clustering and ordination) performed by using NTSYS-pc software package. Each species was described based on its flavonoid spot profile، and Rf values and percentage of each spot in the corresponding profile were reported. Variation in flavonoid spot profiles of Lolium rigidum، L. perenne and Festuca pratensis revealed that flavonoids spot profiles revealed that they may be useful characters for further studying the variations within the species level. Cluster analysis of quantitative morphological characters separated the species in well defined groups and further separated L. persicum population Ardabil from other L. persicum populations. Separation of F. arundinacea populations into two distinct groups was also interesting which suggested that the existence of two forms of this species in Iran is probable.