Seed and bract morphotypes of Carpinus betulus

Carpinus betulus is an important element in the Hyrcanian forests that extensively are distributed, therefore comprehensive studies on separation of phenotypes of the species is necessary. Most taxonomists approved the significance of the seed and bract traits in the taxonomy of the Carpinus so in this study these traits was utilized to identify different phenotypes of the C. betulus by 26 seed and bract characters. First multivariate analysis such as Cluster Analysis were used. Accuracy of the clustering was determined by Discriminate Analysis. Most important traits for groupings were surveyed by Wilks› Lambda values. The results showed the length of three lobes of bract had the most contribution in separation of the clusters. However some traits such as length, width and the ridge numbers o the seed are suitable in separation of the phenotypes. Also, examining the bract stomatal traits in different groups, showed this character-was efficient in identifying the different phenotypes. Additionally, we compared the results of this research with previously reportedvarieties of Carpinus betulus and we observed more variation than the prior studies. In fact this study showed extensive variability of Carpinus betulus especiallyin seed and bract characters, proving the taxonomy significance of these traits.