The biosystematics of the genus Lotus (Leguminosae) in Canada. II. Numerical chemotaxonomy
A thin-layer chromatographic study of fluorescent compounds present in native (L. denticulatus, L. formosissimus, L. micranthus, L. pinnatus, L. purshianus) and introduced (L. corniculatus, L. krylovii, L.pedunculatus, L. tenuis) Canadian species of Lotus has been carried out and relationships of the species have been determined on the basis of the coefficients of association of these compounds. Chemical identification of the compounds was not attempted, but test reagents indicated a number to be phenolics. The analysis supported the general taxonomic relationships of the species based on a morphological and cytological study. Of the native species, L. pinnatus and L. formosissimus were the most closely related, with a coefficient of association of 83.33. Lotus denticulatus, the only native species with a chromosome number of n = 6, in general showed lower coefficients of association with the n = 7 species. Of the introduced species, all of which belong to the L. corniculatus group with a basic chromosome number of 6, L. krylovii and L. tenuis had the highest coefficient of association, 75.86. Based on their coefficients of association, both of these diploid species were more closely related to the tetraploid L. corniculatus than to the diploid L. pedunculatus.