Article

Two annual species belonging to genus Anthoxanthum L. s. l. (Poaceae: Pooideae) (Anthoxanthum aristatum Boiss. and A. ovatum Lag.) occur in the Iberian Peninsula where several infra-specific taxa have been described. Nevertheless, the taxonomical treatment of these taxa has been widely discussed throughout the 20th century. The purpose of this study was to provide information to help clarify the morphological relationships between these taxa. To achieve this aim, six wild populations from Doñana National Park (Andalusia, Spain) were analysed. In these populations several taxa grew in simpatry. A total of 24 traits (quantitative and qualitative) were considered in 389 specimens. The number of individuals collected per population was variable depending on the morphological variation observed. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using the program SPSS 11.0. A principal component analysis was carried out to select the most interesting traits to characterise each taxon. These traits were then used to establish relationships among populations applying the Phi coefficient for qualitative data and the Manhattan distance for quantitative data. These relationships were summarised in two phenograms using UPGMA clustering methods.