Author:
Lisztes-Szabó Zsuzsa,Kovács Szilvia,Balogh Péter,Daróczi Lajos,Penksza Károly,Pető Ákos
Abstract
<p>The taxonomic value of phytolith assemblages and their degree of variability within different species of the same genus is still an undervalued issue in the botanical range of phytolith studies. However the understanding of grass phytolith variance and its implications to plant systematics is doubtless.</p><p>In the present study phytoliths of the lateral shoots (leaves) of nine, globally distributed <em>Poa</em> species (Pooideae – Poaceae) are described. Phytoliths were recovered from <em>Poa</em> specimens by the dry ashing technique. Altogether 6223 disarticulated phytoliths were counted (approximately 500–700 phytoliths per species) in 54 plant samples, which cover six shoots of nine species. Not only the relative frequency of each morphotype was calculated, but measurements were conducted to determine the biogenic silica content of <em>Poa</em> lateral shoots. A phytolith reference collection for the nine selected species of a worldwide importance was also compiled. The description of the most significant phytolith morphotypes and their taxonomic relationships are given here.</p><p>Results suggest that the biogenic silica content of the <em>Poa</em> lateral shoots was determined to be relatively high within all nine species. Phytolith assemblage data was subjected to multivariate statistical analyses (e.g., CA and PCA) in order to find differences and similarities among the nine <em>Poa</em> species. Results show that the two closely related <em>Poa</em> of the <em>P. pratensis</em> species group, namely the <em>P. pratensis</em> and <em>P. angustifolia</em>, only slightly differ from the other <em>Poa</em> species if we consider their rondel-trapeziform short cells (SC) phytolith frequencies.</p>