engleski

Morphological variability of leaf and flower traits in Micromeria croatica (Pers.)Schott

Micromeria croatica (Pers.) Schott is a perennial plant with ornamental pink-purple flowers appearing from June-July till August-September. It is endemic species of the Dinaride Mountains, growing in crevices of carbonate rocks of alpine and sub-alpine range. Even though M. croatica could be found in trade, in Croatia it is not in commercial cultivation nor has any work on its introduction been done so far. In order to gather initial information on morphological variability of M. croatica and to define specimens suitable as a stock material for further reproduction and research, one population of M. croatica was analyzed for intrapopulation variability. Eight flower and leaf traits were analyzed. The most variable trait was the length of pedicel while the leaf length was the least variable trait. Three plants were singled out for further investigation: one with the highest number of flowers per stem (40 compared with the population’s average of 19 flowers per stem) and the other two were one with the most elongated and the one with the most rounded leaves.

ornamental plant; intrapopulation diversity; morphometry; leaf and flower traits

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