Quantitative Analysis of Morphological Characters of Ardisia crenata Complex (Primulaceae)

Abstract:

Ardisia crenata complex include A. crenata Sims, A. crenata var. bicolor (E. Walker) C. Y. Wu & C. Chen, and A. linangensis C. M. Hu. They are taxonomically perplexing. By means of conventional taxonomic methods, it is difficult to discriminate them from one another. Nine characters are analysed for the 135 specimens of this complex from 14 provinces of China by means of pictorialized scatter diagram and histogram. The results support the idea of merging A. crenata var. bicolor (E. Walker) C. Y. Wu & C. Chen into A. crenata Sims, but do not support treating A. linangensis C. M. Hu as the synonym of A. crenata Sims.