Relationships between Hordeum bulbosum L. subsp. bulbosum and H. bulbosum subsp. nodosum comb, et stat. nov.

Abstract

Material of the diploid (HBD) and tetraploid (HBT) Hordeum bulbosum collected in the Mediterranean and Near East areas was examined for 14 morphometric characters. Exploratory data analysis revealed that cilia on the margins of the glumes of the central spikelets may or may not be present in HBT but are never present in HBD. The data were submitted to various kinds of discriminant analysis in which group assignment was based on ploidy level. When presence–absence of cilia on glume margins is used in combination with the resulting linear discriminant functions (DF) there is about 91% probability of correct identification; with DF alone there is about 81% probability. The results of discriminant analysis provided justification, in the opinion of the authors, to regard HBD and HBT as separate taxa at the level of subspecies, namely H. bulbosum subsp. bulbosum and H. bulbosum L. subsp. nodosum (L.) Baum.