Chemotaxonomy of Phormium based on sugar‐residue analyses of the leaf exudates

Abstract

Leaf exudates were harvested from 48 named cultivars of Phormium and one unnamed cultivar held in the National New Zealand Flax Collection at Lincoln, Christchurch. Exudate was also harvested from plants from several wild provenances, and from plants of the cultivar Taeore known to have originated from a single source. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to determine the xylose residues, expressed as a percentage of all sugar residues in the exudate. Xylose residues were in the range 58% to 82%, with cultivars at the low and high extremities showing morphological characteristics of P. cookianum and P. tenax, respectively. There was little seasonal, site‐to‐site, or within‐site variation beyond the standard error, typically <2% (absolute), associated with a single measurement.

Key words:

• Phormium
• chemotaxonomy
• exudate
• xylose