Merciera eckloniana

Cupido, Christopher N., 2003, Systematic studies in the genus Merciera (Campanulaceae): A re-assessment of species boundaries, Adansonia (3) 25 (1), pp. 33-44 : 42

— The Merciera eckloniana (A3) and M. tenui-

folia var. azurea (A4) groups.

The association between specimens of M. eckloniana and M. tenuifolia var. azurea is surprising. The specimens of M. eckloniana ( Fig. 2, A 3 ) form a distinct sub-group from specimens of M. tenuifolia var. azurea ( Fig. 2, A 4 ) within the M. tenuifolia var. azurea — M. eckloniana group. Merciera eckloniana is separated from M. tenuifolia var. azurea by the absence of hairs on the back of the corolla lobes, difference in habit ( Table 3), and a distinct geographical distribution. BUEK (1837) and ADAMSON (1954) considered M. eckloniana a species; SONDER (1865), on the other hand, relegated the species to a variety of M. tenuifolia . SCHLECHTER (1898), who described M. azurea , regarded it as a distinct species, whereas ADAMSON (1954) regarded it as a variety of M. tenuifolia . CA and PCO indicate a clear division between M. tenuifolia var. azurea and M. eckloniana .

Figures

Fig. 3. — The phenetic groupings obtained from Principal coordinates analysis (PCO) using all characters: A1 = the M. leptoloba group; A2 = the M. brevifolia 1 group; A3 = the M. eckloniana group; A4 = the M. tenuifolia var. azurea group; A5 = the M. tenuifolia var. tenuifolia group; B = the M. brevifolia 2 group.

Fig. 4. — Box and whisker plots depicting the character variation ranges in the six phenetic groups: A, bract length; B, hypanthium length; C, calyx lobe length; D, corolla tube length; E, corolla lobe length; F, style length; G, filament length; H, leaf length; I, leaf width.