SEM of seed coat surface characters and the taxonomic relationships in the genus Sesbania Scop. (Leguminosae - Papilionoideae).

Abstract

Criteria obtained by SEM of seed coat surface have been used to reassess the taxonomic relationships between 19 species belonging to three subgenera of the genus Sesbania. The produced characters were analyzed by the NTSYS-pc. program package using the UPGMA clustering method. The produced phenogram supported the treatment of the three taxa Agati, Daubentonia and Sesbania as subgenera in the genus Sesbania. SEM criteria have revealed that, the genus represent a natural monphyletic group and the subgenus Sesbania is the center of the genus from which the other subgenera could have been evolved.