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Leaf Based Phenetic Analysis On The Selected Taxa From The Genus

Ficus L (Moraceae) From Southern Western Ghats

1* Sreehari S Nair, Amitha Bachan K H and Ebin P J
2
3
1 Research Scholar, Assistant Professor and Research Guide, Research and P G Department
2
of Botany, MES Asmabi College, P. Vemballur, Thrissur, Kerala, 680671.

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Botany, Sacred Heart College, Thevara, Cochin, Kerala,
682013.

* Email of corresponding author: harificus@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
The present work is a leaf based phenetic study on the selected members of the genus

Ficus from Southern Western Ghats. Sixteen morphological characters of the leaf considering
102-character states were studied. The species were collected and careful morphological

observations were made. The morphological characters were standardised into numerical

format with the presence or absence of each character state represented with 1 and 0
respectively. The data was analysed using PAST Ver 2 Software and a dendrogram was

obtained. The species were alligned based on the similarities on leaf morphology. The
dendrogram obtained showed that the leaf morphology-based clustering is not exactly similar

to the current accepted sub generic classification of Ficus. But the clustering was almost
similar to a habit-based classification of Ficus into plants with cauliflorous inflorescence,

stranglers, epiphytic & hemi epiphytic trees and independent trees. Thus, it implies that the

leaf morphology-based clustering in Ficus is similar to its habit pattern.
Key words: Ficus, Leaf morphology, Phenetic study.

INTRODUCTION
The genus Ficus L. (Moraceae) is one among the most abundant, complex and diverse

angiosperms. The hypanthodium inflorescence, minute flowers and morphological

complexity make the genera problematic. They are commonly called as ‘Fig’ plants. About
750 species of Ficus is distributed in the world, chiefly in the tropics and sub tropics (Corner,

1965; Berg & Corner, 2005). India has a diversity of 115 taxa of Ficus, majority of them
distributed in the North Eastern regions (Chaudhary et al., 2012). Around 40 species of Ficus

have been reported from the Western Ghats region. According to the current classification,

the genus is divided into six subgenera based on overall morphological and sexual features
(Berg, 2003).

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