Leaf and fruit morphological variability of Celtis caucasica in southern Zagros forests

Plant morphological characteristics are affected by environmental factors in various extents. Investigation of leaf and fruit variations of a plant species is a practical tool to provenance differentiation and biodiversity management of populations. The aim of this study was to investigate the morphological variability of leaves and fruits of different populations of Celtis caucasica in southern Zagros forests using a multivariate analysis approach.
In this study, 39 mother trees from four natural populations of hackberry located in Fars and Kohgilooye and Boyerahmad provinces consist of Tange Tamoradi (altitude of 1542 meter above sea level), Abshare Yasouj (altitude of 1900 m above sea level), Dashte Argan (altitude of 2000 m above sea level) and Tange Kare (altitude of 2120 m above sea level) were selected. In early November, the amount of 10 leaves and 15 fruits per ramet were collected from the outer and the middle part of crown, and 25 morphological traits were measured and the data were analyzed using multivariate analysis.
The results of analysis variance showed that except for traits of width at 0.9 length of base of leaf, the length of serration, the number of serration at right and left side of leaf, the number of serration in 2 cm of base of the leaf, and multiplication of dry weight in the leaf area, traits of studied populations were significantly different from each other in terms of other traits. The principal component analysis showed that the first five components have allocated 76.51% of the variances that in the formation of the first component, traits of leaf length, maximum width of leaf, and surface of leaf showed the highest importance. Considering the second component, the angle between major and minor nervure, leaf tip angle, number of serration at the left and right side of leaf and relative length of petiole showed the highest importance compared with other traits. Investigation of studies treee bases on according to discriminate analysis showed that the four populations have been separated by traits of leaf width in 0.1 of length of the leaf base, sinusoidal leaf angle, petiole length, and width of fruit.
In general, traits of angle between the major and minor nervure and width of fruit can be used as distinguishing traits in making distinction in separation of C. caucasica species from each other due to their lower formability under environmental conditions. In addition, in the area of Tange Tamoradi, C. caucasica species was less affected by environmental conditions due to minimal formability of traits, showing its adaptability in this area. The opposite of this issue is true in the Abshare Yasouj area and C. caucasica species is adapting itself with this area.