Phenetic variability of bluegrasses (Poa L., Poaceae) section Stenopoa Dum. in Asian Russia

AbstractResearch into the basic qualitative characteristics (phens), their distribution and combinations (morphotypes) was undertaken in order to reveal the genetic diversity with respect to section Stenopoa in Asian Russia. About one and half thousands occurrences have been revealed, using herbarium samples and literature data, 1144 were involved in analysis. Four key characters have been used as phonetic markers: the presence or absence of the tuft of hairs on the lemma callus, rachilla surface, ligule length, and lemma surface between veins. Based on these characters and taking into account their xeromorphic level (4 character states), 46 different morphotypes among 96 possible ones were found; 24 morphotypes among 46 (56.5%) are suggested to be of hybrid origin, and 239 (20.89%) among 1144 investigated individuals seem to be of hybrid origin as well. High phenetic diversity of Stenopoa bluegrass indicated indirectly their high genetic diversity in Asian Russia. The highest morphological diversity and ...