Comparative leaf surface morphology and molecular data of five oaks of the subgenus Quercus Oerst (Fagaceae)

Abstract

Comparisons between different data sets are important in taxonomic studies, particularly for complex taxa such as the genus Quercus. However, there is scarce literature on comparative morphological and molecular analyses in oaks. Here we describe an experimental approach based on the correlation between micromorphological features and molecular data in order to characterize and discriminate among five closely related species: Q. robur, Q. petraea, Q. frainetto, Q. pubescens and Q. virgiliana.

Keywords:

• Molecular taxonomy
• Quercus
• statistical analysis
• stomata
• trichome
• leaf surface morphology

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the CSIM of the University of Molise and to Giuseppina Panetta for assistance in measuring leaf morphology.

The research was partially financed by PRIN 2005 n.2005072945 “Landscape transformations in Molise: analysis of agri‐environment dynamics”.