| Morphometric analysis of leaflets characters, flowers, and fruits of Thouinia striata var. striata (Radlk.) and var. portoriceinsis (Radlk.) were conducted to determine their patterns of occurrence and variability within an individual, within a population, and among populations; and if the characters are due to phenotypical plasticity. The study covered three forest life zones: subtropical dry, subtropical moist, and subtropical wet and was supplemented with herbarium collections, greenhouse experiments, and anatomical studies. According to a series of Kruskal-Wallis analysis, significant differences were observed within and among populations of both varieties of T. striata. Data analysis regarding leaf morphology suggests that there is a clinal variation in the populations, related to a precipitation gradient. It is recommended that Thouinia striata var. striata and var. portoricensis remain at the variety level. |
