Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze forma formosensis Kitamura is generally referred to as the tea plant growing naturally in mid-elevation mountains of Taiwan. Several taxonomic treatments have been published for this plant in the past, but some contradictory results have been obtained. To assess the taxonomic position of the wild tea plant and explore its relationship with two other closely related taxa, C. sinensis var. sinensis and C. sinensis var. assamica, 16 vegetative and 11 floral characters were examined on 165 OTUs. Tze data were analyzed using cluster analysis and nonlinear principal components analysis. All cluster phenograms consistently separated the native wild tea plant from two other related taxa. Conversely, pronounced admixture between C. sinensis var. sinensis and C. sinensis var. assamica was present. The nonlinear principal components analysis indicated that the surface features of buds and ovaries are two diagnostic characters. Based on the present study, it is proposed that the Taiwan native wild tea plant might deserve recognition as a distinct species.

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/pdf/morphological-comparisons-of-taiwan-native-wild-tea-plant-zh9l8hx2sd.pdf

Observation on the morphological characters of the wild tea plants on Mt. meiyuan of Taiwan. iI

Morphological comparisons of Taiwan native wild tea plant (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze forma formosensis Kitamura) and two closely related taxa using numerical methods.

Morphological diversity of three Camellia (Theaceae) taxa conserved in an ex situ gene bank was studied and the importance of different descriptors in categorising accessions into distinct groups was also determined. Twelve accessions were characterised using 15 morphological descriptors of IPGRI guidelines. The results of principal component analysis (PCA) on morphological characters showed that the first two principal components accounted for 44.77 % of the total variance. In the evaluated quantitative characters, all three taxa had a coefficient of variation (CV) greater than 24.85%, and within the taxon the CV was greater than 9.59%. The qualitative characters showed a wide range of variations and yielded significant differences (p<0.05). Phenotypic data had high contributing component loadings from characters such as leaf area, weight of harvested shoots, stem colour, leaf pubescence and young shoot colour. Cluster analysis delineated the accessions into three groups. The implications of our results hold promise for assessing genetic diversity in germplasm collections, which is a prerequisite for their utilisation, effective management and crop improvement.

/pdf/evaluation-of-morphological-diversity-in-south-indian-tea-3sitpbass4.pdf

Observation on the morphological characters of the wild tea plants on Mt. meiyuan of Taiwan. iI

Citations

Morphological comparisons of Taiwan native wild tea plant (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze forma formosensis Kitamura) and two closely related taxa using numerical methods.

Evaluation of Morphological Diversity in South Indian Tea Clones Using Statistical Methods

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