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چکیده
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Salvi limbata is a medicinal plant of Lamiaceae family that is naturally distributed in various regions of Iran and some neighboring countries. In the current evaluation, we examined the leaf blade and petiole anatomical variables of eight Iranian S. limbata populations, and explored the anatomical significance of their interpopulation variations. The plant samples were fixed in F.A.A. solution, and hand cross sections of the blade and petiole were double-stained with carmine and methylene blue. Data were analyzed using PAST ver. 2.1. We found that all evaluated qualitative variables were invariable among the populations, except for the shape of the leaf blade and petiole epidermal cells. We revealed that most quantitative traits varied among the considered populations. In PCA analysis, the investigated characteristics were divided into seven components, where two first components possess over 80% of the total variation. In PCA loading, most of the assessed features were negatively correlated. According to UPGMA dendrogram, we clustered thepopulations were into three groups. PCA biplot revealed the distinct characteristic(s) for each of the classified groups. The clustering patterns of populations were not in agreement with the geographical distance and phytogeographic similarity between the populations. We registered that several characters were similar to those observed in some Lamiaceae genera and lack taxonomic value, whereas, some others have taxonomic importance at the infraspecific level. We suggested the microhabitat has a powerful influence on anatomical structure.
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