Computer-generated conventional keys and descriptions of Gossypium species and cultivars (Malvaceae)

Mostafa, Nashwa A. M.; El Gazzar, Adel; Abdellah, Mohammad

doi:10.21608/taec.2023.179945.1043

Computer-generated conventional keys and descriptions of Gossypium species and cultivars (Malvaceae)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ botany and microbiology department, faculty of science, Arish university

² Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Arish University, N. Sinai, Egypt

³ Cotton Research Institute, Agricultural Research Centre, Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, 12619 Giza, Egypt;

10.21608/taec.2023.179945.1043

Abstract

A data matrix was compiled to accommodate 32 characters of vegetative and floral morphology and stem anatomy of 18 cultivars of G. barbadense L., one cultivar of G. hirsutum L., and three species representing the American, African, and Arabian wild species (G. thurberi Todaro, G. anomalum Wawra & Peyr. and G. stocksii Mast., respectively). Of the 32 characters, 24 are morphological and anatomical, while eight are technological attributes defining the commercial quality of these cultivars and the potential value of the wild species. A conventional key to the 22 taxa and a description of every taxon based on the entire set of 32 characters were obtained from subjecting the data matrix to numerical analysis using the key-generating program package DELTA. The key is strictly comparative, easy to use, and leads to the full names of individual taxa. The data matrix is provided in the DELTA format. Additional wild and cultivated taxa from any part of the world can be included in the data matrix and appropriate keys and descriptions of them can be obtained.

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