Article

A systematic study of 44 taxa belonging to 10 genera of tribes Convolvuleae, Cuscuteae, Cresseae, Dichondreae, Ipomoeeae and Merremieae of the Convolvulaceae from Egypt was carried out by means of a phenetic analysis based on seventy one morphological characters, including vegetative parts, pollen grains and seeds. Based on UPGMA clustering and PCO analysis, five main groups are recognized: Convolvuleae, Cuscuteae, Cresseae, Dichondreae and a mixed group from Ipomoeeae and Merremieae. OUT’s of these groups are clustered together based on characters with high factor loading >0.60 in the PCO analysis. Our results indicate that the tribe Convolvuleae is heterogeneous and the Cuscuteae is homogeneous, and there is some degree of similarity between taxa of Merremieae and Ipomoeeae, and those Cresseae and Dichondreae.