Merciera tenuifolia var. tenuifolia

Cupido, Christopher N., 2003, Systematic studies in the genus Merciera (Campanulaceae): A re-assessment of species boundaries, Adansonia (3) 25 (1), pp. 33-44 : 42

— The Merciera tenuifolia var. tenuifolia (A5)

group.

Specimens from M. tenuifolia var. tenuifolia constitute this group. No single quantitative character ( Fig. 4 ) separates this group from the other violet-blue flowered groups (A3 and A4). However, the distinctly ascending leaves separate this group from all the other groups. Geographically, this group occurs in sympatry with the M. tenuifolia var. azurea group but does differ from it in having a more erect habit. According to ADAMSON (1954), M. azurea is only a smaller and stouter form of M. tenuifolia and he accordingly assigned it varietal status. The distance between the M. tenuifolia var. azurea and M. tenuifolia var. tenuifolia clusters revealed by CA and PCO do not support ADAMSON’ s concept of taxon boundaries.

Figures

Fig. 4. — Box and whisker plots depicting the character variation ranges in the six phenetic groups: A, bract length; B, hypanthium length; C, calyx lobe length; D, corolla tube length; E, corolla lobe length; F, style length; G, filament length; H, leaf length; I, leaf width.