Morphological Characterization in Wild Species of <i>Heliconias</i> (<i>Heliconia</i> spp) in Mexico

Abstract

In Mexico, the utilization of native heliconias germplasm for preservation and genetic improvement purposes, has been limited partly because of the unawareness between their population similarities and differences, and because of the degree of genetic divergence that exists among the interspecific and intraspecific ecotypes originated from different regions of the humid tropics. The objective of the present study was to morphological characterization wild species of the genus Heliconias in Mexico through some qualitative and quantitative morphological descriptors. Fifty-five qualitative and quantitative morphological characters were studied in 25 accessions from 11 native species. Characters of plant, leaf, inflorescence, flower, fruit, and seed were taken into account. Data was analyzed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis. Two analyses were carried out: the first one was for the 25 accessions that included characters of flower (55 variables), whereas the second was for only 19 accessions (66 variables) concluded until seed. The first six components explained a 69.4% of the total variation based on PCA. The variables which contributed most significantly were: leaf length (p < 0.001), limb width (p < 0.001), limb's petiole length (p < 0.001), pseudostem thicknes s (p < 0.05)/width at 60 cm (p < 0.05), rachis width (p < 0.05)/thickness (p < 0.001), second bract width (p < 0.001), growth (p < 0.001) and type of inflorescence (p < 0.05), petiole (p < 0.05) and peduncle length (p < 0.05), rachis color (p < 0.05), and wax in limb (p < 0.05) and in pseudostem (p < 0.05). Thirty-eight descriptors were suggested to differentiate wild species of heliconias in Mexico.