This study is the first report to suggest a morphological phylogenetic framework for the seven varieties of Ficus deltoidea Jack (Ficus: Moraceae) from the Malay Peninsula of Malaysia. Several molecular-based classifications on the genus Ficus had been proposed, but neither had discussed the relationship between seven varieties of F. deltoidea to its allies nor within the varieties. The relationship between seven varieties of F. deltoidea is still debated due to the extreme morphological variabilities and ambiguous boundaries between taxa. Thus, the correct identification of these varieties is important as several morphological characters are variety-specific. To test the monophyly and further resolved the relationship in F. deltoidea, a morphological phylogenetic analysis was conducted based on herbarium specimens representing the seven varieties of F. deltoidea that were collected from the Malay Peninsula of Malaysia, by using related species of the genus Ficus; F. grossularioides, F. ischnopoda and F. oleifolia as the outgroups. Parsimony and neighbour-joining analyses indicated that F. deltoidea is monophyletic, in that the seven varieties of F. deltoidea nested into two clades; clade subspecies deltoidea (var. deltoidea, var. bilobata, var. angustifolia, var. kunstleri and var. trengganuensis) and clade subspecies motleyana (var. intermedia and var. motleyana).

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IntroductionFicus deltoidea Jack (Moraceae), locally known as 'Mas Cotek' among the Malays, is a complex species of subgen. Ficus, section Ficus, and subsect. Frutescentiae Sata (Sata, 1944), which contains more than 25 species available in the Sino-Himalayan and western Malesia regions (Berg, 2003). Among the many species, the most important are the trees with milky latex that contain important ingredients used in traditional medicine and Ayurvedic formulations (Babu et al., 2010). Ficus deltoidea is native and widely distributed throughout Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Moluccas (USDA, 2007). The plant is often recognized by its unique syconia (figs), midrib dichotomous, golden dots on the upper surface of the lamina, leafy twigs or periderm not persistent, and milky latex. In Malay traditional medicine, the dried leaves are marketed as an herbal tea. The decoction of the leaves is believed to improve blood circulation and have aphrodisiac activity and antioxidant and antidiabetic properties (Norhaniza et al., 2007;Sulaiman et al., 2008;Adam et al., 2011).The 7 varieties of Ficus deltoidea, namely var. deltoidea Corner, var. angustifolia (Miq.) Corner, var. trengganuensis Corner, var. bilobata Corner, var. intermedia Corner, var. kunstleri (King) Corner, and var. motleyana (Miq.) Corner, found in the Malay Peninsula of Malaysia were described by Kochummen (1978). Despite their close morphological similarity, it is argued that several morphological and anatomical characters are variety-specific and useful for varietal identification. Both qualitative and quantitative morphological characters of leaves (shape, length, surface texture, midrib dichotomous, gland densities at the forked midrib, and subsequent dichotomies of the midrib, petiole length, and indumentum densities) and anatomical characters (lamina, leaf epidermis, and midrib) are particularly discriminative. However, the leaf morphology is probably the most variable and shows heterophylly in the species (Nashriyah et al., 2012). The young plants and mature plants of the same variety often display different states of leaf characters. These extreme variations and unclear boundaries between varieties create misleading identifications of F. deltoidea varieties.The anatomy of the leaf was first used for systematic reasons by Duval-Jouve (1875), who stressed the usefulness of epidermal structures in plant taxonomy. The study of the foliar epidermis of Ficus L. revealed a number of important anatomical characters that are of taxonomic significance (Sonibare et al., 2006). The epidermis contains 3 main cell types, namely pavement cells, guard cells, and subsidiary cells, which surround the trichomes and stomata. Although the importance of foliar epidermal anatomy for classification has been discussed in detail by Abstract: The extreme morphological variations and unclear boundaries between varieties can lead to the misleading identification of Ficus deltoidea Jack (Moraceae) varieties. This has encouraged many taxonomists and botan...